Integrating environmental objectives in the operational planning of printed circuit board assembly

This paper presents a methodology for operational control of printed circuit board (PCB) assembly systems with respect to environmental objectives for managing per-unit and per-setup waste flows. The approach builds upon the concept of unit process modeling, process chaining and evaluation of multicriteria effects first applied to product design. Three approaches are used to guide planning and control decisions for the management of hazard profiles at the facility level: product assignment, worker assignment, and a hybrid approach. The optimization models seek to balance overall waste mass and facility-level hazard given throughput constraints and demand requirements. A case example is given for scheduling six board types over four production lines in a two-shift operation.