Tham khảo tài liệu 'handbook of industrial automation - richard l. shell and ernest l. hall part 10', kỹ thuật - công nghệ, cơ khí - chế tạo máy phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | Chapter The Future of Manufacturing M. Eugene Merchant Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Sciences Cincinnati Ohio INTRODUCTION Since the past is a springboard to the future a brief review of major trends in manufacturing over the years from the Industrial Revolution to the present provides our springboard. THE BEGINNINGS The Industrial Revolution spawned organized manufacturing activity in the form of small manufacturing companies. In such small closely knit companies every member of the organization could face-to-face communicate and co-operate quite freely and easily with every other member of that entity in carrying out the various functions involved in its overall operation. This situation was ideal for engendering manufacturing excellence. That is because the basic key to enabling a manufacturing organization to perform its product realization function most effectively is empowerment of every entity people and equipment in it to be able and willing to communicate and co-operate fully with every other entity in the organization. However as factories grew in size operating a company in such a manner became more and more difficult leading to the establishment of functional departments within a company. But the unfortunate result of this was that communication and co-operation between personnel in different departments was not only poor but difficult. Thus as companies grew in size personnel in each department gradually became more and more isolated from those in the others. This situation finally led to a bits-and-pieces approach to the creation of products throughout the manufacturing industry. A WATERSHED EVENT Then in the 1950s there occurred a technological event having major potential to change that situation namely the invention of the digital computer. This was indeed a watershed event for manufacturing though not recognized as such at the time. However by the 1960s as digital computer technology gradually began to be applied to .
