Abstract

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract
Manufacturing management requires increasing software and systems support for reactive decision making and optimised control of relevant performance parameters for improved competitiveness. This paper introduces and develops a novel concept, which is based on the use of a toolbox-based approach to the construction of manufacturing management solutions. Although this concept can be generally applied when implementing planning, scheduling and manufacturing control systems, the emphasis here is being put in the so-called shop-floor area. The first pilot implementation at a shoe manufacturing company is able to demonstration both the effectiveness and the still unexploited potential of the Process Condition Monitoring (PCM) concepts and tools.

Abstract
Continuous pressure for competitiveness increase led to the concept of enterprise integration. Within this context a modular approach to enterprise modelling, structuring it into manageable units which cooperate with each other according to identified needs and sharing information on request, is mandatory. The approach presented here encompasses a Modelling Workbench supporting the development of applications for the management and control of manufacturing operations: an integrated modelling and simulation environment providing both material and information flow modelling facilities, as well as the integration of material and information now executable models. Building on Simple++, a simulation tool supporting material flow modelling, a class library allowing the use of SDL (Specification and Description Language) for information flow modelling and simulation was developed. The paper also illustrates the SDL environment concept and its significance in the integrated model, as well as its use for shop floor CIM systems realization through stepwise integration.

Abstract
This paper has two purposes: first, to describe an experiment made in an undergraduate course, using Internet services to improve the speed and ease of communication between students and teaching team. We claim that the very positive results we obtained may very easily be reproduced in any course, with undergraduate students from the first year on. The second purpose is to discuss some possible directions the authors are planning to follow, in what concerns the utilization of Internet in education. Virtual environments such as MUDs and the automatic marking-up of problems submitted through WWW forms are steps towards what might end up as a full-blown Distance Education Environment.