The mounting head needs to move frequently between the feeder and the printed circuit board when the mounting machine works. Shortening the moving distance of the mounting head is an important way to improve the mounting efficiency . The optimization of mounting path for the multi-head arch mounting machine was studied. the variation of mounting paths that the mounting head moves along the feeder was analyzed, and the formula of moving distance of mounting head was established. An optimization model of mounting path was established with the goal of minimizing the moving distance of mounting head, the sequence of pick-and-place was coded by the mounting position, and a genetic algorithm was used to optimize the sequence of pick-and-place as well as the moving direction of the mounting head. The differences and structural characteristics of different mounting paths corresponding to different picking methods was analyzed . The results show that there are structural differences between two-way picking and near side picking when the distribution of mounting points is more on one side of PCB. The mounting path of two-way picking is shorter than the path of near side picking, and two-way picking is more conducive to improve the mounting efficiency.