You will have to forget about the idea of finding ONE algorithm to optimize SMT placement. For pick and place, collect and place, turret type "chip shooters" with moving feeder cartridge and moving board you will each have to find your own algorithm (which do exist in a pretty good way). The interesting part is where most companies in that field are working on: Optimizing line balancing, Optimizing a number of diferent jobs on one line, Optimizing different jobs on different lines, ... I believe to get some new results in your paper you should first try to gat an overview and then pick a small field where it looks like there hasn't been a good result yet. I hope I don't destroy your morals too much, but I just have to answer if it sounds like someone wants to cover this topic in ONE paper. Good luck, Erhard
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