Systems thinking and computer-Integrated Manufacturing

Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is a company-wide organizational issue extending far beyond individual hardware-software installations. For successful system design and implementation, CIM needs a generic model which reflects the complex human-technology interaction. This paper describes such a model based on Cybernetics and compares it to situations in manufacturing industry. It is shown that this approach has considerable potential in providing a basis for the realization of effective manufacturing facilities.