A MANUFACTURING PARADIGM TOWARD THE 21ST-CENTURY

This paper proposes the Post Mass Production Paradigm (PMPP),which is a system of economic activity capable of encouraging and sustaining ec onomic growth without depending on mass production and mass consumptio n of artifacts. As technological methodologies to achieve PMPP, we pro pose a new type of artifact called soft artifact and a new type of eng ineering activity called knowledge intensive engineering. Some example s of soft artifacts are illustrated. Knowledge intensiveness requires systematization of various kinds of knowledge over product life cycle stages. In this paper, Intelligent Manufacturing Systems will be viewe d as next generation manufacturing systems that exhibit features of th e soft artifacts based on knowledge intensive engineering. (C) 1997 Jo hn Wiley & Sons, Inc.