A Study on Integrated Manufacturing Technologies in the Caribbean Manufacturing Firms

B.V. Chowdary Manufacturing today is the most critical and dynamic sector, with the capacity to provide more jobs, stabilise communities and drive nation’s growth. There remains an urgent need in Trinidad and Tobago (TT) to research and assess opportunities to strengthen the manufacturing sector that is expected to provide a stable economy in the absence of the energy sector. Manufacturing technology users and researchers of the Caribbean region must work together to configure the critical technologies for the future development of the local manufacturing sector. This paper presents an industrial survey to study the current status/usage of integrated manufacturing technologies (IMT) in the TT manufacturing firms. From the results of the survey, it can be seen that considerable scope exists for the introduction of IMT in the local manufacturing industries.