Human Aspects In Computer Integrated Manufacturing

The papers in this volume reflect the current research and development of advanced manufacturing software. They may be categorized as follows: New Concepts towards CIM, Product Realization through Product/Process Modelling, Intelligent Management and Control of Manufacturing Activities, and Development of CIM Systems.

This book discusses the latest advances in people-centered design, operation, and management of broadly defined advanced manufacturing systems and processes. It reports on human factors issues related to various research areas such as intelligent manufacturing technologies, web-based manufacturing services, digital manufacturing worlds, and manufacturing knowledge support systems, as well as other contemporary manufacturing environments. The book covers an extensive range of applications of human factors in the manufacturing industry: from work design, supply chains, evaluation of work systems, and social and organization design, to manufacturing systems, simulation and visualization, automation in manufacturing, and many others. Special emphasis is given to computer aided manufacturing technologies supporting enterprises, both in general and in the manufacturing industry in particular, such as knowledge-based systems, virtual reality, artificial intelligence methods, and many more. Based on the AHFE 2016 International Conference on Human Aspects of Advanced Manufacturing, held on July 27-31, 2016, in Walt Disney World®, Florida, USA, the book provides readers with a timely snapshot of the enterprises of the future and a set of cutting-edge technologies and methods for building innovative, human-centered, and computer-integrated manufacturing systems.

The Background to the Institute The NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) 'People and Computers - Applying an Anthropocentric Approach to Integrated Production Systems and Organisations' came about after the distribution of a NATO fact sheet to BruneI University, which described the funding of ASls. The 'embryonic' director of the ASI brought this opportunity to the attention of the group of people, (some at BruneI and some from outside), who were together responsible for the teaching and management of the course in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) in BruneI's Department of Manufacturing and Engineering Systems. This course had been conceived in 1986 and was envisaged as a vehicle for teaching manufacturing engineering students the technology of information integration through project work. While the original idea of the course had also included the organisational aspects of CIM, the human factors questions were not considered. This shortcoming was recognised and the trial run of the course in 1988 contained some lectures on 'people' issues. The course team were therefore well prepared and keen to explore the People, Organisation and Technology (POT) aspects of computer integration, as applied to industrial production. A context was proposed which would allow the inclusion of people from many different backgrounds and which would open up time and space for reflection. The proposal to organise a NATO ASI was therefore welcomed by all concerned.

Crossing the Border examines the emergence of a new philosophy based on the idea of "human-centred technology" and, through the use of a case study, illustrates the ways in which users, social scientists, managers and engineers can participate in the design and development of human-centred computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) system. The book offers a unique insight into a large European project (ESPRIT project 1217) aimed at the design and development of a human-centred CIM system. The book examines the problems inherent in developing interdisciplinary design methods and of "crossing the border" between the social and engineering sciences. The authors offer proposals and guidelines for overcoming such problems based on their experience within this project. Crossing the Border will be of particular interest to researchers and practitioners in the area of factory automation, to students and researchers in AI, and to all those interested in the human and organisational issues surrounding the computerised factory of the future.

In recent years the situation of production enterprises has been aggravated by the change from a vendors' market to a buyers' market, the globaHsation of competition, a severe market segmentation and rapid progress in product and process technologies. Beside cost and quality, time has taken on an increasingly important role, forcing enterprises to become ever more dynamic and versatile. Therefore, in all areas of production management, novel, effective concepts, procedures and tools have been developed in order to meet these new requirements. But beyond these more technical, organisational and information technology related aspects there is certainly another one which has to be considered more closely than ever before, namely that of human resources. Is not group technology also related to group work? Do partners in a global network only operate according to predefined process schemes with no personal contact? Are the mental process models of the programmers of ERP-systems the same as those of the users? What is the impact of human behaviour and what consequences are to be expected if organisational and individual objectives are separated? And finally, how do necessary technological changes affect the workforce and the individual needs and wishes of the employees.

Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE 2023), July 20–24, 2023, San Francisco, USA

Towards Balanced Automation The concept. Manufacturing industries worldwide are facing tough challenges as a consequence of the globalization of economy and the openness of the markets. Progress of the economic blocks such as the European Union, NAFTA, and MERCOSUR, and the global agreements such as GATT, in addition to their obvious economic and social consequences, provoke strong paradigm shifts in the way that the manufacturing systems are conceived and operate. To increase profitability and reduce the manufacturing costs, there is a recent tendency towards establishing partnership links among the involved industries, usually between big industries and the networks of components' suppliers. To benefit from the advances in technology, similar agreements are being established between industries and universities and research institutes. Such an open tete-cooperation network may be identified as an extended enterprise or a virtual enterprise. In fact, the manufacturing process is no more carried out by a single enterprise, rather each enterprise is just a node that adds some value (a step in the manufacturing chain) to the cooperation network of enterprises. The new trends create new scenarios and technological challenges, especially to the Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) that clearly comprise the overwhelming majority of manufacturing enterprises worldwide. Under the classical scenarios, these SMEs would have had big difficulties to access or benefit from the state of the art technology, due to their limited human, financial, and material resources.

Presented in this book are some of the most relevant aspects of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) in Japan. The volume compares the development of CIM in the context of Japan as well as that of Europe and the United States. It includes studies of the implemented CIM systems in many companies. In addition, the book contains a study concerning Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS), and the basis for preparation of the so-called Future Generation of Manufacturing Systems (FGMS). This volume gives a better understanding of Japanese competitiveness using advanced technology. People coming from the manufacturing industry, managers, engineers, officials and researchers will find in this book a rich source of material for understanding the crucial elements in technology development, and its actual and future implementation.