Human Factors in CIM: A Human-Centered Perspective from Europe.

A number of European agencies, institutes, and firms have developed a decentralized "skill-based" model of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), arguably better adapted to European conditions than the more highly centralized "factory of the future" promoted by large U.S. computer-based equipment vendors and the Department of Defense. This human-centered or anthropocentric model, embodied in working systems and concrete design guidelines, provides a major challenge to more restricted views of the role of human factors in system design and innovation. This study reviews and describes the significance of this model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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