Page 316 - Sensors and Control Systems in Manufacturing

The Role of Sensors and Contr ol Technology in CIM
existing shop floor control application adequately manages sched- 273
ules and support shop personnel with operating instructions, some
additional information, such as that on quality, may be added, but
rewriting the existing application may not be justified.
However, the plant manager may plan to develop a new produc-
tion monitoring application to operate at each workstation. This
application will make use of various sensors, share data with shop
floor control, and utilize software building blocks for communica-
tions, database management, and presentation.
As is evident, the existing application requires only a data shar-
ing capability, while the new application can benefit from both data
sharing and the architecture building blocks. A CIM architecture with
selectable functions will provide more options that can support the
variety of needs within an enterprise.

5.8.6.10 Improved Business Process
Obviously, an enterprise will not implement integration on the basis
of its technical merits alone. A CIM architecture must provide the
necessary business benefits to justify change and investment.
The integration of information systems must support interaction
between business functions and the automation of business pro-
cesses. This is a key function if corporate goals, such as improved
responsiveness to customer demands and reduced operating cost, are
to be met. A CIM architecture must provide the means by which an
entire enterprise can reduce the cycle times of business processes
required for order processing, custom offerings, and new products. It
must also reduce the impact of changes in business objectives and
those business processes.

Further Reading
Bucker, D. W., “10 Principles to JIT Advancement,” Manufacturing Systems, 55,
March 1988.
Campbell, J., The RS-232 Solution, Sybex, Inc., Alameda, Ca., 1984.
Clark, K. E., “Cell Control, The Missing Link to Factory Integration,” International
Industry Conference Proceedings, Toronto, 641–646, May 1989.
Datapro Research Corporation, “How U.S. Manufacturing Can Thrive,” Management
and Planning Industry Briefs, 39–51, March 1987.
Groover, M. P., and E. W. Zimmer, Jr., CAD/CAM: Computer Aided Design and
Manufacturing, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1984.
IBM Corp., Introducing Advanced Manufacturing Applications, IBM, Atlanta, Ga.,
1985.
“APICS: Tweaks and Distributed Systems Are the Main Focus—MRP No Longer
Looks to the Future for Finite Capacity Scheduling,” Managing Automation,
31–36, January 1992.
Manufacturing Studies Board, National Research Council, Toward a New Era in
U.S. Manufacturing: The Need for a National Vision, National Academy Press,
Washington, D.C., 1986.
Orlicky, J., Material Requirements Planning, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1985.