The 1980s have witnessed a tremendous growth in the field of computer integrated manufacturing systems. The other major areas of development have been computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, industrial robotics, automated assembly, cellular and modular material handling, computer networking and office automation to name just a few. These new technologies are generally capital intensive and do not conform to traditional cost structures. The net result is a tremendous change in the way costs should be estimated and economic analyses performed. The majority of existing engineering economy texts still profess application of traditional analysis methods. But, as was men tioned above, it is clear that the basic trend in manufacturing industries is itself changing. So it is quite obvious that the practice of traditional economic analysis methods should change too. This book is an attempt to address the various issues associated with non-traditional methods for evaluation of advanced computer-integrated technologies. This volume consists of twenty refereed articles which are grouped into five parts. Part one, Economic Justification Methods, consists of six articles. In the first paper, Soni et at. present a new classification for economic justification methods for advanced automated manufacturing systems. In the second, Henghold and LeClair look at strengths and weaknesses of expert systems in general and more specifically, an ap plication aimed at investment justification in advanced technology. The third paper, by Carrasco and Lee, proposes an enhanced economic methodology to improve the needs analysis, conceptual design and de tailed design activities associated with technology modernization.

Competence in investment analysis is now a basic requirement for most practicing managers, engineers, and financial analysts in order to avoid possible serious mistakes arising from flawed or inadequate knowledge of the discipline. Furthermore, individuals who make decisions based on technical economics stake their professional futures, in many cases, on the accuracy of such evaluations. The aim of this volume is to provide a balanced view of the essential components of economic and financial analysis including: 1. Strategic and design issues; 2. Principles of cost management systems and activity-based costing, and; 3. Tools for developing the financial measures of investment worth, with advanced topics and case studies in these three areas.This volume provides a refreshing insight into the various methods that engineers, managers, and financial analysts may need to consider to find good alternatives for the investment of scarce resources. Not only are new ventures presented, but also improvements within existing facilities that include process modification, product design, equipment replacement, and plant expansion/contraction.

First published in 1998, this volume was designed to lead to an operational model of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) decision making which incorporated the mathematics of fuzzy set theory. The rapid advancement of robotics, automated technologies and software such as CAD and CAM have made such studies paramount. Here, analyses of a questionnaire survey and field study of major UK manufacturing companies together provide a simulating portrayal of AMT investment decision making and have been expanded upon with a model using fuzzy set theory.

Since manufacturing has acquired industrial relevance, the problem of adequately sizing manufacturing plants has always been discussed and has represented a di?cult problem for the enterprises, which prepare strategic plans to competitively operate in the market. Manufact- ing capacity is quite expensive and its exploitation and planning must be carefully designed in order to avoid large wastes, or to preserve the survival of enterprises in the market. Indeed a good choice of ma- facturing capacity can result in improved performance in terms of cost, innovativeness, ?exibility, quality and service delivery. Unfortunately the capacity planning problem is not easy to solve because of the lack of clarity in the decisional process, the large number of variables involved, the high correlation among variables and the high level of uncertainty that inevitably a?ects decisions. The aim of this book is to provide a framework and speci?c methods and tools for the selection and con?guration of capacity of Advanced Manufacturing Systems (AMS). In particular this book de?nes an - chitecture where the multidisciplinary aspects of the designofAMSare properly organized and addressed. The tool will support the decisi- maker in the de?nition of the con?guration of the system which is best suited for the particular competitive context where the ?rm operates or wants tooperate. Thisbookisofinterest for academic researchers in the ?eldofind- trial engineering and particularly indicated in the areas of operations and manufacturing strategy.

Manufacturing a product is not difficult, the difficulty consists in manufacturing a product of high quality, at a low cost and rapidly. Drastic technological advances are changing global markets very rapidly. In such conditions the ability to compete successfully must be based on innovative ideas and new products which has to be of high quality yet low in price. One way to achieve these objecti ves would be through massive investments in research of computer based technology and by applying the approaches presented in this book. The First International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Technology AMST87 was held in Opatija (Croatia) in October 1987. The Second International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Technology AMSV90 was held in Trento (Italy) in lune 1990. The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Conferences on Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Technology were all held in Udine (Italy) as follows: AMST93 in April 1993, AMST96 in September 1996, AMST99 in June 1999 and AMST02 in June 2002.

In companies that produce goods and services, productivity and efficiency improvements are a constant challenge. This book reviews the differences between productivity and efficiency. It proposes a new method and makes available a computational tool for implementation that contributes to facilitating the use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The book presents a discussion about productivity and efficiency, illustrating the potentials of use and conceptual differences. It covers the concepts and techniques for analysis of productivity and efficiency, analyzing critical benefits and limitations, explains in detail how to use DEA for analysis, provides innovative methods for using DEA, offers a free online computer tool with a direction guide, shows real empirical applications, and covers other techniques that can be used to complement the analysis performed. The book is for professionals, managers, consultants, students working and taking courses in productive systems of goods and services. Ancillary materials include a free online computer tool to operationalize the concepts and methods proposed in the book, a guide on how to use the method and the software developed for the DEA application. Solutions manual, instructor’s manual, PowerPoint slides, and figure slides also will be available upon qualified adoption.

Laser-Based Additive Manufacturing (LBAM) technologies, hailed by some as the "third industrial revolution," can increase product performance, while reducing time-to-market and manufacturing costs. This book is a comprehensive look at new technologies in LBAM of metal parts, covering topics such as mechanical properties, microstructural features, thermal behavior and solidification, process parameters, optimization and control, uncertainty quantification, and more. The book is aimed at addressing the needs of a diverse cross-section of engineers and professionals.

Mechatronics, the synergistic blend of mechanics, electronics, and computer science, has evolved over the past twenty five years, leading to a novel stage of engineering design. By integrating the best design practices with the most advanced technologies, mechatronics aims at realizing high-quality products, guaranteeing at the same time a substantial reduction of time and costs of manufacturing. Mechatronic systems are manifold and range from machine components, motion generators, and power producing machines to more complex devices, such as robotic systems and transportation vehicles. With its twenty chapters, which collect contributions from many researchers worldwide, this book provides an excellent survey of recent work in the field of mechatronics with applications in various fields, like robotics, medical and assistive technology, human-machine interaction, unmanned vehicles, manufacturing, and education. We would like to thank all the authors who have invested a great deal of time to write such interesting chapters, which we are sure will be valuable to the readers. Chapters 1 to 6 deal with applications of mechatronics for the development of robotic systems. Medical and assistive technologies and human-machine interaction systems are the topic of chapters 7 to 13.Chapters 14 and 15 concern mechatronic systems for autonomous vehicles. Chapters 16-19 deal with mechatronics in manufacturing contexts. Chapter 20 concludes the book, describing a method for the installation of mechatronics education in schools.

This book comprises high-quality, refereed research papers presented at the 2019 International Symposium on Computer Science, Digital Economy and Intelligent Systems (CSDEIS2019): The symposium, held in Moscow, Russia, on 4–6 October 2019, was organized jointly by Moscow State Technical University and the International Research Association of Modern Education and Computer Science. The book discusses the state of the art in areas such as computer science and its technological applications; intelligent systems and intellectual approaches; and digital economics and methodological approaches. It is an excellent reference resource for researchers, undergraduate and graduate students, engineers, and management practitioners interested in computer science and its applications in engineering and management.