MANUFACTURING AND THE 21ST-CENTURY - INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS AND THE RENAISSANCE OF THE MANUFACTURING-INDUSTRY

The affluence of modern Western society can be said to be largely a re sult of the autonomous development of the manufacturing industry broug ht about by the industrial revolution. Japan's drive toward modernizat ion represents an attempt to participate in the mechanism of what prop els this cycle. As an eager and earnest latecomer, Japan joined in thi s ever-evolving productive system, this mechanism for creating an affl uent society. And, as a result of its effort, Japanese producers now a ccount for approximately 15% of the world's produtive output. Yet, the success of Japan revealed contradictions within the system. Indeed, a lthough the system has continued to developed ever since the industria l revolution, it still provides its benefits to only about one-fourth of the world's population and has created a deluge of artificially pro duced items. The contradictions made apparent by the success of Japan cannot be resolved through the efforts of Japan alone. The advanced co untries must work together to attain a manufacturing renaissance. It i s also necessary to introduce new concepts, such as global productivit y, and to establish the study of manufacturing as a separate disciplin e having a systematic structure comparable to that of other scientific and technical fields. Such moves toward the creation of a renaissance in manufacturing provide the contextual background for discussions on the feasibility of the Intelligent Manufacturing System (IMS) project among officials from six governmental bodies representing regions in Europe, North America, and the Pacific. This paper explains this conte xtual background and, for the attainment of the renaissance, points ou t the need for cooperation to assure constructive competition.