The firststep for implementing automation inmanufacturing is to acquire employeescapable of executing plans, analyzingproblems, and formulating and implementingsolutions. Highly educated,dedicated employees reduce manufacturingoverhead allowing function integration to be emphasized. Headquartersstaff placed in geographicallyseparated factories must be instantlyavailable to others within the company.The final step of implementation ismaintaining focus on the core skillsand knowledge required to create valuefor customers. Meeting these challengeswill result in a manufacturingprocess that will be accomplished inhouseand by outsourcing elements ofproduction outside of themanufacturer’s core skills allowingcollaboration with suppliers to yield aseamless, integrated virtual factory.
Melnyk and Martin’s (1995) responseto these implementation steps is newcategories of software. Groupware issoftware allowing different people locatedin different places to work together.Visually oriented simulation packagesallow the user to build a visual representationof a factory on the computer screenthat can be animated for testing joboperations. Business processreengineering packages document andanalyze business processes and result inthe identification of redundancies. Theseare just a few examples of the softwaresolutions available for automated reasoning.Software solutions are expandingexponentially and will allow full automationof factories in the near future.
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