Synchronization between production scheduling and real demand is an issue of great concern for production practitioners and academics. Put in a nutshell, the solution requires the placement of a decoupling point in order to get a trade-off between efficiency and flexibility. In the context of a postponement production strategy, a decoupling point is an inventory buffer to create independence between the process and final demand. Upstream of the decoupling point, the process is managed under a make-to-stock approach; in contrast, downstream operations meet the final demand under a make-to-order approach. In this sense, the present paper proposes a multicriteria methodology to locate decoupling points in manufacturing systems. The methodology consists of two stages, with two and three steps respectively. In the first stage, the decision criteria and alternative for decoupling points are chosen. In the second one, the final decoupling point placement is determined. By applying the methodology in a metalworking company, the location of the decoupling points for nine production lines was obtained.Palabras clave: decoupling point, manufacturing system, methodology, multicriteria, postponement. ISSN: 0122-3461 (impreso) 2145-9371 (on line)