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SUPPLEMENT

Computer-Integrated Manufacturing

F

LEARNING GOALS

After reading this supplement, you should be able to:

1. Describe several types of technologies that comprise computer-integrated manufacturing. 2. Discuss the advantages of these different technologies.

The popular press often writes about the factory of the

future: a fully automated factory that manufactures a wide variety of products without human intervention. Although some “peopleless” factories do exist and others will be built, the major advances being made today occur in manufacturing operations where computers are being integrated into the process to help workers create high-quality products. Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) is an umbrella term for the total integration of product design and engineering, process planning, and manufacturing by means of complex computer systems. Less comprehensive computerized systems for production planning, inventory control, or scheduling are often considered part of CIM. By using these powerful computer systems to integrate all phases of manufacturing, from initial customer order to final shipment, firms hope to increase productivity, improve quality, meet customer needs faster, and offer more flexibility. For example, McDonnell Douglas spent $10 million to introduce CIM in its Florida factory. The computer systems automatically schedule manufacturing tasks, keep track of labor, and send instructions to computer screens at workstations along the assembly line. Eliminating paperwork led to an increase of 30 percent in worker productivity. Less than 1 percent of U.S. manufacturing companies have approached full-scale use of CIM, but more than 40 percent are using one or more elements of CIM technology.

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SUPPLEMENT F

> COMPUTER-INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING <

One study asked managers how much their com- computer-aided manufacturing (4.0), flexible manufacpanies invest in several of the technologies that com- turing...