Good organizational structure design is increasingly important in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) environments. It can reduce problems due to the changing roles of organizational units and information technologies. This paper presents observations about organizational structures for CIM and discusses the basic approaches. An initial framework for evaluating CIM organizational structures...

Part I of this tutorial described two broad paradigms of interventional assistance: surgical computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and surgical assistance. Part II focused on the underlying concepts of surgical CAD/CAM, with a particular emphasis on percutaneous procedures. This final installment of our three-part tutorial series discusses surgical assistance. In this s...

The research results described are concerned with: • developing a domain modeling method and tools to provide the design and implementation of decisionmaking support systems for computer integrated manufacturing; • building a decision-making support system based on know-how and its software environment. The research is funded by NEDO, Japan.

This paper investigates patterns of structural change and specialization of Western European Countries for the period 1970 to 2005. We therefore assign individual countries to clubs, i.e. groups of countries which share common features, and analyze the development of both the clubs and their individual countries over time. Our results also show that structural convergence in Western Europe is m...

This White Paper describes the separate features of MES and Advanced Planning & Scheduling Systems and shows how an integrated MES/APS solution should work. It shows how an integrated and collaborative approach will help to significantly increase the benefits that would be obtained compared with a separate and independent implementation of these systems on a Make-to-Order plant.

This paper analyses the relationship between employee turnover, timebased manufacturing practices, manufacturing performance and manufacturing efficiency. Consistent with theory, the results show that employee turnover is negatively associated to the implementation of some practices, and also to manufacturing efficiency. These results are discussed within the context of sustainable manufacturin...

The free trade and marketing across borders of food and agricultural products have reduced their prices, and have consequently been pushing down the prices of agricultural machinery. Utilizing the worldwide industrial infrastructure, the manufacturing industry, including agricultural machinery manufacturers, has expanded the worldwide sourcing of materials and components and complied with such ...

The Department of Community Nursing and the Open Learning Centre of Technikon Natal (South Africa) and the community-owned Community Development Programme are collaborating to provide online learning to rural and urban community nurses. The project involves the development of a multimedia pharmacology course, a virtual Internet class, and the provision of information points (telecenters) in fac...

In this paper, aiming at the problems of backward overall technology, weak competitiveness, poor operation efficiency and low production and economic efficiency in Liaoning equipment manufacturing industry, we based on the theory of constrains and used the DEA model to research its technology upgrading input and output efficiency to find its bottleneck, and then analysis its cause, finally put ...