Future Prospects of Factory Automation: From FA to IMS

摘要

Factory Automation (FA) is a term used to describe the automation ofmanufacturing processes by means of equipment such as industrial robots, numerical control machine tools, and automatic guided vehicles. Factory automation is the integration of the entire production process, based on the flexible automation of the factory, resulting in increased productivity. This translated work, originally written by the MITI Machinery and Information Industries Bureau in 1989, discusses the evolution toward Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) which integrate production activities of the entire manufacturing industry by generating intelligent activity at the on-site level, and bringing together man and machine. (Copyright (c) National Center for Manufacturing Sciences 1990.)