Information technology for manufacturing: a research agenda

This book describes a vision of manufacturing in the twenty-first century that maximizes efficiencies and improvements by exploiting the full power of information and provides a research agenda for information technology and manufacturing that is necessary for success in achieving such a vision.

Research on information technology to support product and process design, shop-floor operations, and flexible manufacturing is described.

Roles for virtual manufacturing and the information infrastructure are also addressed.

A final chapter is devoted to nontechnical research issues.