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 TO:             Lou Paul
 
 FROM:           Bob Anderson
 
 SUBJECT:        NCC Panel on Automation:
                 Title and Abstract for my Contribution
 
 
 
              PRIORITIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
            INTEGRATED FACTORY AUTOMATION SYSTEMS
                    Robert H. Anderson
 
 
 Probably the most important contribution of the computer to
 increasing the productivity of discrete product manufacturing
 will be in aiding the management and control of the complex
 production process.  Automated workstations will have little
 effect unless parts and tooling are almost always available
 exactly when needed;  this implies greater control of production
 than is currently exercised (or even possible, using current
 techniques).  On the other hand, a greater degree of automation
 in workstations can provide timely, reliable data on which better
 management and control systems can be based.  Automated workstations
 can also be controlled directly by computer-based supervisory
 systems, thereby contributing to system responsiveness to
 management control.  Neither workstation automation nor computer-
 based management and control systems should be developed in
 isolation; they are highly interdependent.
 
 The best application area for demonstrating initial successes in
 computer-based manufacturing automation appears to be in the
 production of electronic subassemblies, such as avionics subsystems,
 minicomputer CPUs, and electronic consumer products.  Some reasons
 for this assessment are:  flexibility is needed due to the
 constantly changing technology; automation devices are not directly
 competing with human manipulative skills in the micro-miniaturized
 electronics realm; there is a need for complex electronic testing
 as an integral part of the manufacturing process, and both micro-
 assembly and testing can be integrated within a computer-based
 automated workstation.
 
 The above viewpoints emerged from a recently completed automation
 study (Anderson, R. H., and N. M. Kamrany, "Advanced Computer-
 Based Manufacturing Systems for Defense Needs," ISI/RR-73-10,
 USC Information Sciences Institute, September 1973); case studies
 of product manufacturing described in this study will be used
 to discuss relative priorities for R&D tasks in computer-based
 manufacturing automation.