A Manufacturing Paradigm Toward the 21st Century

Issue title: Intelligent Manufacturing Systems

Guest editors: Douglas H. NorrieGuest Editor and Brian R. GainesGuest Editor

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tomiyama, Tetsuo

Affiliations: Department of Precision Machinery Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan

Abstract: This paper proposes the Post Mass production Paradigm (PMPP), which is a system of economic activity capable of encouraging and sustaining economic growth without depending on mass production and mass consumption of artifacts. As technological methodologies to achieve PMPP, we propose a new type of artifact called soft artifact and a new type of engineering activity called knowledge intensive engineering. Some examples of soft artifacts are illustrated. Knowledge intensiveness requires systematization of various kinds of knowledge over product life cycle stages. In this paper, Intelligent Manufacturing Systems will be viewed as next generation manufacturing systems that exhibit features of the soft artifacts based on knowledge intensive engineering.

DOI: 10.3233/ICA-1997-4302

Journal: Integrated Computer-Aided Engineering, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 159-178, 1997