"Why another study of manufacturing processes?" given the host of recent studies concerning manufacturing productivity and national competitiveness. The answer lies in the observation that these previous studies have sought primarily to raise national awareness of problems related to manufacturing and to identify key industries, sectors, or technologies in which the United States has lost, is losing, or may lose its share of the international market. These studies have devoted relatively little attention to the leveraging technologies through which the . industry may regain, maintain, or strengthen its global competitiveness. The need to identify these technologies led the Division of Design and Manufacturing Systems of the National Science Foundation.
