A METHODOLOGY TO SELECT OPTIMAL SYSTEM COMPONENTS FOR COMPUTER-INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING BY EVALUATING SYNERGY

The enormous growth in manufacturing automation has produced a plethor a of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) with diverse features, These AMTs could consist of semi- and fully automated systems or equi pment, Manufacturing companies are seeking ways to gain a competitive edge over their competitors by investing in AMTs, where the ability to make rational choices among these AMTs is important for success. Inte gration of AMTs in an enterprise brings many islands of automation int o a single database-shared entity, Effective integration by efficient communication links among these AMTs will generate significant benefit s across many traditional functional units, eliminate many functional barriers, and provide opportunities to achieve the competitive goals, The effect of synergy caused by the integration of AMTs will have an i mpact on various functional units of the enterprise. This paper provid es a methodology, firstly to identify appropriate technologies for a c ompany based on their strategic focus, and secondly to estimate the fu nctional interrelationships within the framework of a unified approach for the justification of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), The se derived functional interrelationships are utilised to assess the ef fect of synergy in an integrated enterprise and identify the optimal c apital investments in AMTs as system components of CIM, (C) 1998 Elsev ier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.