Cim and Manufacturing Industry in the North East of England: a Survey of Some Current Issues

To meet the challenge of the 1990's and beyond there is a need to adopt advanced manufacturing technologies and new manufacturing techniques. In particular, there is a growing recognition of the need to develop a more holistic approach to the organisation of the business and the computer technologies it uses. One label often applied to this approach is CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing). This paper presents some preliminary results of a survey of nearly 40 manufacturers in the North East of England showing how they perceive CIM and how they are attempting to implement it. In particular it describes the views of senior executives about why they are attempting to implement CIM, what problems they encountered in doing so and what impact they believe this will have on working practices. The paper examines some of the contrasting views and opinions about CIM held by "real world" industrialists, academics and other particular interest groups.