Download or read book Manufacturing Automation at the Crossroads written by Louis-François Pau and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Information technology has become an important discipline for the manufacturing industry. However, the complexity of modern production has made manufacturing dependent on a rapidly developing computer-based support technology. The growth of a multitude of data-solutions and the use of incompatible products on different factory locations have led to so-called islands of automation. Such islands may be of considerable individual value, but pose integration problems if one wishes to integrate factory functions. The complexity of the modern factory sets stringent requirements to the systems integrator.