Page 28 - Sensors and Control Systems in Manufacturing

Preface

ising costs, shorter lead times, complex customer specifica-
tions, competition from across the street—and around the
Rworld.
Business today faces an ever-increasing number of challenges.
The manufacturers that develop more effective and efficient forms of
production, development, and marketing will be the ones who meet
these challenges.
The use of advanced sensors and control technology makes a fun-
damental commitment to manufacturing solutions based on simple
and affordable integration. With this technology, one can integrate
manufacturing processes, react to rapidly changing production con-
ditions, help personnel to react more effectively to complex qualita-
tive decisions, and lower the cost of and improve product quality
throughout the manufacturing enterprise.
The first step in achieving such flexibility is to establish an infor-
mation system that can be reshaped whenever necessary, thus ena-
bling it to respond to the changing requirements of the enterprise—
and the environment. This reshaping must be accomplished with
minimal cost and disruption to the ongoing operation.
Sensors and control technology will play a key role in achieving
flexibility in the information system. However, this technology alone
can not shorten lead time, reduce inventories, and minimize excess
capacity to the extent required by today’s manufacturing operation.
This can be accomplished only by integrating various sensors with
appropriate control means throughout the manufacturing operation
within computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) strategy. The result is
that individual manufacturing processes will be able to flow, com-
municate, and respond together as a unified cell, well structured for
their functions.
In order to develop a sensory and control information system that
will achieve these objectives, the enterprise must start with a specific
long-range architectural strategy, one providing a foundation that
accommodates today’s needs as well as taking those of tomorrow’s—
including the support of new manufacturing processes, incorporating

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