Most enterprises are struggling to change their existing business processes into agile, productand customer-oriented structures to survive in the competitive and global business environment. Among their endeavor to overcome the obstacles, one of the frequently prescribed remedies for the problem of decreased productivity and declining quality is the automation of factories (Zhou & Venkatesh, 19...

Evolution of advanced manufacturing technologies and the new manufacturing paradigm has enriched the computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) methodology. The new advances have put more demands for CIM integration technology and associated supporting tools. One of these demands is to provide CIM systems with better software architecture, more flexible integration mechanisms, and powerful support...

Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems are complex in terms of performing a variety of activities, maintaining a range of information and involving various classes of users with differing levels of knowledge and skills, and different levels and time spans of decision making. Much investment and effort has been made to formalize and automate the performance of the CIM elements in a manu...

Networked manufacturing is an advanced manufacturing technology, and efficient customer relationship management is critical for networked manufacturing’s resource allocation and scheduling. Evaluation of customer relationship management’s performance under networked manufacturing and effective optimization measures are preconditions for improving on CRM’s performance. Development process’s qual...

Composable Conveyors expose fundamental new problems that must be addressed as the nation transforms its advanced manufacturing infrastructure. Unanticipated fluctuations in workloads caused by the increasingly open and interconnected advanced manufacturing systems makes it significantly challenging to appropriately configure and adapt the operating parameters of conveyor systems that are deplo...

Nowadays, manufacturers are faced with severe challenges to response rapidly to changing demands and meet various customers’ needs with respect to production volume and product profile. Reconfigurable manufacturing paradigm was proposed as an advanced manufacturing philosophy to enhance the adaptability and flexibility of manufacturing systems. By physical and logical reconfiguration, Reconfigu...

the immunosuppressive effect of antimacrophage serum (ams) on the primary immune response of mice to sheep red blood cells (srbc) was studied. ams, given before a small dose of antigen, abrogated the immune response. transplantation of normal, galss-adherent macrophages enabled ams-treated animals to respond to srbc, while administration of lymph node lymphocytes did not reveres ams - induced i...