Shipyard Modeling—An Approach to a Comprehensive

Abstract:This paper describes the results of a recent field study of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) adoption strategies in U.S. manufacturing firms. The purpose of the study was to identify the extent to which CIM technologies are in use in U.S. firms, the impact of a facility’s process characteristics on the CIM development process, and the adoption policy being followed implicitly or explicitly. The survey focused on manufacturing process characteristics, the CIM development process, the CIM architecture, and perceived value and benefits. Our results indicate that CIM implementations follow a definite temporal pattern with respect to the adoption of certain information technologies. We also find evidence of labor substitution through CIM, although the direct labor jobs that are lost are partially replaced by engineering and design tasks. While most CIM users find that their CIM projects successfully meet their initial operational goals, the technology seems to be poorly integrated in most sites...

ESPRIT Project 595 was concerned with the application of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) to the heavy welded fabrication industry which typically manufactures products which are very large and required in small batch quantities, often only one off, e.g. ships, power stations, bridges, boilers, and offshore structures. The main objective of the project was to identify and validate CIM strategies that will enable European welded fabrication industries to restructure themselves and become competitive in world markets. This was approached by the formal analysis of industrial collaborators manufacturing systems using a recognized methodology and the subsequent synthesis of a generalized manufacturing system architecture for automated robotic welding and associated subsystems. The project work programme has followed the concept of top-down analysis matched to bottom-up implementation. The application of CIM lo welded fabrication has not been a simplistic acquisition of information technology su...

With the increasing number and severity of security incidents and exploits, information technology (IT) vendors, security managers, and consumers have begun to place more emphasis on security. Yet, fixing the sheer volume of vulnerabilities remains a challenge as IT vendors race against attackers to evaluate system vulnerabilities, prioritize them, and issue security patches before cybercriminals can exploit them. In this study, we posit that IT vendors can prioritize which vulnerabilities they should patch first by assessing their exploitability risk. Accordingly, we identified the vulnerabilities that cybercriminals will most likely exploit using vulnerability-related attributes and vulnerability types. To do so, we employed survival analysis and tested our models using historical data of vulnerabilities and exploits between 2007 and 2016. Our results indicate that IT vendors benefit the most from fixing remotely exploitable vulnerabilities; non-complex vulnerabilities; vulnerabilities that require no authentication; and vulnerabilities that affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability components. Furthermore, our findings suggest that IT vendors can mitigate the risk of exploit-related attacks by remedying code-injection vulnerabilities, buffer-overflow vulnerabilities, and numeric-error vulnerabilities.

It is widely accepted that the global environment requires the creation of a new manufacturing paradigm. The new paradigm has to take into account the limits of the global environment, provide more customized products with higher value added, have the capability to re-configure the products for different purposes and also produce and reproduce a single product in various facilities. As one principal idea of the new paradigm, environmental consciousness is becoming one of the core competencies of a company. Customers require environmentally friendly products and society requires environmentally conscious manufacturing from the company. This is the reason why companies must take environmental consciousness seriously in their technology strategy as part of the business strategy. Some of the ideas under development today will become future core competencies of the company. Three industrial case studies are presented here. Process plants form a major part of Finnish heavy metal and engineering industry production. Many of the companies in the specialized fields are market leaders in the world. A number of major companies in the Finnish metal and engineering industry have started a technology development program, PRODEA—development of process plant realization—to utilize the latest CIM (computer integrated manufacture) technologies for the enhancement of process plant realization. Two test cases describing the use of expert systems and case-based reasoning technology in supporting the realization are presented in this paper.

Section I. Introduction.- 1. Introduction.- Section II. Tacit Knowledge and Apprenticeship.- 2. The Practice of the Use of Computers. A Paradoxical Encounter between Different Traditions of Knowledge.- Paradoxical Views of Knowledge in the Age of Enlightenment.- On Following Rules.- What is a Computer?.- A Boat Builder on the West Coast of Sweden.- Judging Light in Photography.- Technology and Culture.- Routine Practice and Development Practice.- Error-Location in a Computer Program.- Three Categories of Knowledge.- An Epistemological Error.- 3. The Nurse as Engineer - the Theory of Knowledge in Research in the Care Sector.- Two Irreconcilable Traditions.- Systems Theory in Medical Care.- Expert Systems.- The Theory of Knowledge for Practitioners.- The Concept of Practice.- Who Draws the Boundary between Man and Machine?.- Conclusion.- 4. Automation-Skill-Apprenticeship.- The Dream of the Automated Factory.- Practical Knowledge.- Propositional Knowledge.- Conclusions.- 5. Computerization and Skill in Local Weather Forecasting.- Method.- What is the Weather Like Today?.- Weather Forecasting and Computerization.- Working Knowledge and Skill.- The Inner Weather Picture.- Experiences of Numerical Forecasts.- Experiences of the Computerized Map-Plotting System.- Skill as a Basis for Alternatives.- Conclusion.- 6. Tacit Knowledge, Working Life and Scientific Method.- Section III. Skill and Artificial Intelligence.- 7. Can Skills be Transferable?.- The Politics of Skills Transfer.- What are Skills?.- The Strategic Significance of Skills.- Transferring Skills.- Models for the Transfer of Skills.- Preconditions for the Transfer of Skills.- Technology and Skills.- Artificial Intelligence and Skills.- The Politics of Skills.- 8. Artificial Intelligence and Social Action: Education and Training.- Nature of Expert Knowledge and Its Transfer.- Design Issues.- Social Domains: Design Criteria for AI Systems.- Human-centred Approach for Knowledge Transfer.- Participatory Model.- The Human Domain: AI Technology and its Limitations.- Towards Designing Human-Centred Learning Systems: A Research Initiative at the SEAKE Centre.- A New Initiative in Health Care Training.- The Domain of Health: Some Concerns of Automating Social Knowledge.- A Knowledge-Based Learning System for a Social Domain: A Case-Study in Adult Literacy using the Domain of Diet Planning and Health.- Designing the System: using Learning as a Social Process.- Learning through Designing the Knowledge Base.- Piloting the System with Students and Lessons Learnt.- Back to the Health Care Project: Preliminary Work.- Concluding Remarks.- 9. Skill, Education and Social Value: Some Thoughts on the Metonymy of Skill and Skill Transfer.- Introduction: Skills and Social Interaction.- The Metonymy of Skill.- Power of Knowledge Transfer.- Two Models of Knowledge Transfer Colonial and Independent.- 10. Knowledge Acquisition for Expert Systems.- Computer Knowledge.- System Development.- Understanding the Problem.- The Knowledge Acquisition Process.- Methods.- Conclusion.- 11. Knowledge-Based Computer Decision-Aids for General Practice.- Information Overload in General Practice.- How Do General Practitioners Make Decisions?.- General Practitioners as Experts?.- What Do We Mean by Knowledge?.- What Kinds of Knowledge?.- Certainty and Risk in Data and Knowledge.- Putting Knowledge to Practical Use.- The Oxford System of Medicine (OSM).- The User Interface.- Will General Practitioners Accept a Computerized Decision-Aid?.- Section IV. Artificial Intelligence and the Flexible Craftsman.- 12. Creativity, Skill and Human-Centred Systems.- Common Sense and Tacit Knowledge.- The Acquisition of Skill.- Problems of Human-Machine Interaction.- Human-Centred CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing).- 13. Professional Knowledge and the Limits of Automation in Administrations.- The Problem.- Learning from Experience and the Computerization of Administrative Work.- Distributive Effects of the Use of New Technology.- Substitutive Effects of the Use of New Technology.- Conclusions.- 14. The Changing Nature of the Engineering Craft Apprenticeship System in the United Kingdom.- The 1960s to the Present Day.- The Engineering Craft Job Structure.- Training for Engineering Craft Skills.- Conclusions.- 15. Delegation and Decentralization - Computer Systems as Tools for Instruction and Improved Service to Clients.- Delegation and Central Control in the Norwegian National Insurance Service.- Instruction and Quality of Service.- Information Technology and the Decentralized Organizational Structure.- Quality of Service and the Importance of Direct Contact with the Public.- Conclusion.- 16. Applying Expert Systems Technology: Division of Labour and Division of Knowledge.- New Paradigm or More of the Same?.- Codifying Domain Data.- Experiences from Applied Expert Systems.- The Flexibility Myth.- The Explanation Problem.- ES Amplification of the Organizational Culture.- Concluding Advice to System Designers.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an increasingly important role in all aspects of competitiveness e.g. for both products and production techniques, but also management methods, the organisation of the firm and human resource training. Obtaining and, just as importantly, mastering scientific and technological information is therefore essential to competitiveness of all SMEs. During the last two decades, several factors have forced global manufacturers to make dramatic changes in their products, markets, and manufacturing strategies. One of the ways by which SMEs can achieve a competitive advantage in manufacturing is through the implementation of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). Realising the importance of SMEs, an attempt has been made in this paper to study the implementation of CIM in SMEs. First, the characteristics of CIM have been studied with reference to the application and infrastructure of SMEs. Secondly, a framework has been presented for the implementation of CIM in SMEs with the help of a conceptual model. Finally, future research directions on CIM in SMEs are indicated.

Use of computer aided management information systems in the food and beverage industry in Germany

This study provides an empirical analysis of some managerial factors which are critical to the successful planning and implementation of Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) systems. CIM is viewed as an integrated computer-based information technology applications and as a strategic tool which ties together different technologies, as well as various functional areas and managerial levels. Thus, enough emphasis must be placed on communicating the company-wide goals and strategies to various functional areas and employees, particularly with regard to the CIM implementation. In this study, a number of managerial factors will be identified and factor analysis will be used to examine the technological and managerial factors.

S.121-154

This article examines the role of advanced information technologies, particularly computer‐integrated manufacturing (CIM), in coordinating manufacturing activities. Our focus is on understanding the nature of changes in organizational structure and processes that are a result of, or are associated with, the introduction of CIM systems. The analysis is premised on the observation that coordination tasks are largely related to the acquisition and processing of information and are, therefore, sensitive to the application of information technology. Economic theories of organization facilitate the development of the relationships between information costs and the attributes of organizations. We use a model of a manufacturing firm, which incorporates elements of these theories, to study the organizational implications of CIM systems.

Although not only information technology (IT) systems but also collaborative work with IT vendors and IT users are indispensable for digital transformation (DX), disputes between IT vendors and IT users (IT disputes) have often been observed, after the abortions of IT projects and successive claims to compensate for individual losses. The vendors and users waste tremendous resources as well as opportunities, however, the root causes of IT disputes and measures to prevent similar incidents are not clarified. Lessons learned from such disputes have not been identified specifically enough to prevent the same troubles in the future. The goal of this paper is to identify the lessons learned. Applying a new analytical technique for troubled IT project cases, we identify individual root causes and business risks, whose threats have been overlooked by organizations, and derive the lessons learned. We also show specific management practices for avoiding the same disputes based on the lessons learned. Moreover, after showing that current institutes of project management have not considered the risk and have not involved the lessons learned in the management standards, we propose a revised organizational project management standard with specific practices for less loss of our social and economic activities in the future DX era.

In FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System) and CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing), machine-tools have been the target of integration in the last three decades. The conventional concept of integration is being changed into the autonomous manufacturing device based on the knowledge evolution by applying advanced information technology in which an open architecture controller, high-speed network and internet technology are included. In the advanced environment, the machine-tools is not the target of integration anymore, but has been the key subject of cooperation. In the near future, machine-tools will be more improved in the form of a knowledge-evolutionary intelligent device. The final goal of this study is to develop an intelligent machine having knowledge-evolution capability and a management system based on internet operability. The knowledge-evolutionary intelligent machine-tools is expected to gather knowledge autonomically, by producing knowledge, understanding knowledge, reasoning knowledge, making a new decision, dialoguing with other machines, etc. The concept of the knowledge-evolutionary intelligent machine is originated from the machine control being operated by human experts’ sense, dialogue and decision. The structure of knowledge evolution in M2M (Machine to Machine) and the scheme for a dialogue agent among agent-based modules such as a sensory agent, a dialogue agent and an expert system (decision support agent) are presented in this paper, with intent to develop the knowledge-evolutionary machine-tools. The dialogue agent functions as an interface for inter-machine cooperation. To design the dialogue agent module in an M2M environment, FIPA (Foundation of Intelligent Physical Agent) standard platform and the ping agent based on FIPA are analyzed in this study. In addition, the dialogue agent is designed and applied to recommend cutting conditions and thermal error compensation in a tapping machine. The knowledge-evolutionary machine-tools are expected easily implemented on the basis of this study and shows a good assistance to sensory and decision support agents.

Information technology support for manufacturing systems embodies complex and systematic activities in modern industrial enterprises. In order to successfully and profitably operate in rapidly changing markets, highly flexible production, computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), supplychain management (SCM) and customer relationship management (CRM) need to be developed. The aim of the paper is to describe the results of a comparative study of the implementation and integration of computer aided production management (CAPM) in Taiwan and the UK, one of the emerging 'little dragons' of Far East Asia and manufacturers in the developed Western economy of the UK. The research design used both qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques to introduce and examine a model of best practice in the CAPM for manufacturing systems, by drawing on the practical experience of senior managers of production and MIS in Taiwan and the UK. Two phases of fieldwork were undertaken. In the first phase, 20 case studies on the use of CAPM in Taiwanese manufacturing companies were developed. In the second phase, a questionnaire was sent by post to senior mangers of MIS and production in both Taiwan and the UK. Although the industrial development and manufacturing histories of the two countries are very different, it was found that manufacturers in the two countries appear to be pursuing CAPM development strategies, which are leading to convergent solutions. While UK manufacturers have more experience with computerization of manufacturing than their Taiwanese counterparts, and the initial systems designs in the two countries were different, developers have encountered similar difficulties in developing systems. However, Taiwanese manufacturers appear to be improving the quality of their CAPM systems in a more systematic and thus faster manner than their UK counterparts. Some Taiwanese firms have overcome systems development barriers to achieve a high state of CAPM implementation and integration and many UK and Taiwanese firms had plans in place to further develop and integrate CAPM. A comparison of CAPM in the two countries suggests that Taiwanese manufacturers have created the platforms on which to build CAPM systems, are aware of the problems they face and have plans to overcome them. When these plans were examined and compared with the UK, both countries appear to be moving towards similar designs for their manufacturing systems.

To Coordinate with or Differentiate From Your Neighbor: The Adoption of Electronic Medical Records by Hospital Systems

Cloud computing has gathered significant attention from information technology (IT) vendors in providing massively scalable applications as well as highly managed remote services. What is cloud computing and how will it impact the medical IT market? Will the next generation of picture archiving and communication systems be leveraging cloud technology?