Primary responsibility protocol in computer integrated manufacturing

A study on the data-generation and flow process in manufacturing leads to the following primary responsibility protocol (PRP): at every hierarchical level, the design and decision output space can be partitioned according to its primary responsibility allocations. Based on the PRP, a computer integrated manufacturing, engineering, and sales (PRIMES) system with distributed decision making and database is described. It is shown that PRIMES is applicable to flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), robust, least costly to implement, capable of immediate return to investment, and adaptable to changing business and technological conditions.<
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