A changeover operation configuration device for use in a component mounting line including a registration section configured to register information of at least one of line layout information related to an arrangement of the component mounting line, work area layout information related to an arrangement of a work area at which the changeover operation is to be performed, and personnel quantity information of a quantity of operators who are to perform the changeover operation; an aggregation section configured to select the component type for which to perform changeover operation from the multiple component types, aggregate the component types to a restricted quantity of the component supply devices and designate the component supply devices as work targets; and a setting section configured to set an arrangement position of the component supply devices that are the work targets based on the at least one of the registered information.

Provided is a method for determining set-up families for a pick-and-place line for populating circuit boards with electronic components one or more component types, the method including the following steps: detecting a predetermined or predeterminable number of set-up families; wherein a set-up family is defined as a quantity of circuit boards that can be populated on a pick-and-place line without changing the quantity of component types kept ready for population on the pick-and-place line; wherein an assignment of circuit boards to be distributed to the detected number of set-up families is optimized by integer linear programming in such a way that the sum of the numbers of component types per set-up family is minimized; and populating the circuit boards in the set-up family assigned to them.

A component mounting system includes a component mounter group, a storage container, a loader, a host computer, and a production management computer. The host computer prepares jobs for each product based on a production plan for producing multiple types of products in which predetermined various types of components are mounted on a mounting target and sets a job in the jobs so prepared that satisfies a specified determination condition as a determined job. The production management computer shares the determined job with the host computer, makes a processing preparation for the determined job and thereafter causes the loader to unload and/or load component supply devices based on the results of the processing preparation for the determined job.

In a component supply unit arrangement determination method for a mounter, in which multiple component supply units are exchangeably arranged and which mounts a component on a board based on a job, as the component supply unit to be exchanged for the component supply unit to be newly arranged due to switching of multiple jobs whose execution order is determined, the component supply unit is selected such that a time interval from a job, in which the component supply unit is to be used last, to the switching is long, among the component supply units that are arranged before the switching and are not planned to be used in a job after the switching. In addition, an arrangement position of the selected component supply unit is determined as an arrangement position of the component supply unit to be newly arranged.

A component mounting system includes a component mounter group, a storage container, a loader, a host computer, and a production management computer. The host computer prepares jobs for each product based on a production plan for producing multiple types of products in which predetermined various types of components are mounted on a mounting target and sets a job in the jobs so prepared that satisfies a specified determination condition as a determined job. The production management computer shares the determined job with the host computer, makes a processing preparation for the determined job and thereafter causes the loader to unload and/or load component supply devices based on the results of the processing preparation for the determined job.

An article management apparatus allocates articles necessary for a board working machine out of the articles stored in a storage based on a production plan of the board working machine that performs a predetermined board work on the board to produce the board product. The article management apparatus includes a first setting section, a second setting section, and a selecting section. The first setting section allows a user of the board working machine to set a restriction condition for each production plan of the board product. The second setting section allows the user to set a priority among multiple priority elements when allocating the articles for the articles needed in a case of producing the board product under the restriction condition set by the first setting section. The selecting section allocates the articles based on the priority of the priority element set by the second setting section.

An article management apparatus allocates articles necessary for a board working machine out of the articles stored in a storage based on a production plan of the board working machine that performs a predetermined board work on the board to produce the board product. The article management apparatus includes a first setting section, a second setting section, and a selecting section. The first setting section allows a user of the board working machine to set a restriction condition for each production plan of the board product. The second setting section allows the user to set a priority among multiple priority elements when allocating the articles for the articles needed in a case of producing the board product under the restriction condition set by the first setting section. The selecting section allocates the articles based on the priority of the priority element set by the second setting section.

A setup change task setting device includes a number-of-feeders acquisition section configured to acquire the number of feeders required to be replaced in a wheeled table on which multiple feeders supplying components are installed to be replaceable during a setup change in which a board on which the components are mounted is changed from a current board type to a next board type in a component mounter in which the wheeled table is provided to be exchangeable, a task comparing section configured to compare relative merits of multiple types of setup change tasks in the wheeled table provided in the component mounter based on an acquisition result from the number-of-feeders acquisition section, and a task setting section configured to set any of the multiple types of setup change tasks for the wheeled table based on a comparison result from the task comparing section.

An automatic exchanging device for moving in an arrangement direction of multiple component mounting machines alongside the front face of a component mounting line to set feeders to and/or remove feeders from a feeder setting base of each component mounting machine, and a control device for controlling the movement of the automatic exchanging device. The control device monitors the operational states of the multiple component mounting machines and, when an error requiring the work of the operator occurs in any one of the component mounting machines, sets a predetermined range including the component mounting machine to a movement prohibited area of the automatic exchanging device to move the automatic exchanging device out of the movement prohibited area until it is determined that the work is completed.

The management device includes a management control section configured to set attachment position setting information including an attachment position of a feeder in a tendency such that the feeder is to be replaced in association with production switching to be attached to an attachment portion closer to a storage section based on production plan information including multiple pieces of mounting condition information.