Design ? the starting point for CIM

The author reviews the spectrum of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) aids now available to speed up the development, manufacture and marketing of new products. To help firms to decide which aid is best suited to their needs the author presents a 2-by-2 typology of business environments, the dimensions being uncertainty and complexity. For each cell he derives a factor critical to achievement of competitive advantage, to which is matched a suitable form of CIM. The paper includes a survey of the characteristics and limitations of commercially available hardware and associated software, advice on the administration of the systems and the storage of information generated. The author concludes by defining the key to the successful use of CIM as ensuring its conscious integration into the business, which means having a clear understanding of what is involved in design and development, management awareness of and commitment to the potential usefulness of CIM, defining clear responsibilities for creating and owning data and planned introduction of a design and engineering information system.