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Appendix B
Toward Computer-Integrated
Manufacturing
Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) is a broad term re-
ferring to utopian factories of the future in which computers are
integrated into all aspects of design, production, and control. As
such, CIM technology encompasses hardware, software, and systems
that support the design and manufacture of mechanical devices.
The primary goal of CIM is to increase the flexibility of the pro-
duction line to support faster response to changing market demands.
Related goals of CIM systems are to achieve higher product quality,
smaller Tot sizes (approaching one), and reduced work-in-process in-
ventory. Early efforts to realize CIM systems were driven by a naive
push for labor reduction; more recent motivations include desires for
improvements in product quality and response time.
CIM technology is relevant to the discussion of export control
policy because it is generic; that is, it affects a wide range of militarily
important and other products in a large industrial sector (manufac-
turing of discrete parts), and it has the potential to yield radical
improvement in productivity, product quality, and response time.
BASIC TECHNOLOGY
CIM technology is too broad to be covered thoroughly in this
report. The following discussion focuses on one key technology area:
250
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APPENDIX B
251
software for mechanical design and drafting, geometric modeling,
and finite element analysis.
Design and drafting was the first CIM-related application area
to develop. It has grown rapidly to become the largest. Commercial
two-dimensional (2-D) drafting packages appeared in the early 1970s.
~ . . . ~ . . · 1 ~ _ ~ ~ _ ~ _ ~ A ~ ~;11; ~~
In last the size of the industry was Emma ~o u~ ~~.o
(41 percent compound growth since 1976~.
Software for 2-D and 3-D drafting runs on every available com-
puting platform. Mainframe-based systems (e.g., CADAM and Mac-
Auto), descendants of systems developed by airframe manufactur-
ers, also have some database management facilities. Engineering
workstation-based systems (e.g., Intergraph and Computervision),
descendants of "turnkey" systems developed in the 1970s, have some
data-sharing capabilities through the networking of platforms. PC-
based systems (e.g., AutoCad and CadKey), developed in large num-
bers in the past 10 years, have come to dominate the market because
of their low price ($15,000 to $20,000 per workstation), ease of use,
and minimal training and support requirements.
Geometric Modeling
Production use of geometric modeling software is limited but
growing. Principal applications include image generation, mass prop-
erty analysis, and interference checking. These first-generation solid
modelers are difficult to use, slow, and unreliable, but are avail-
able on mainframes (e.g., CATIA, PADE, GeoMod, and Romulus),
engineering workstations, and personal computers.
Finite Element Analysis
Finite element analysis (FEA), including pre- and postprocess-
ing, is seeing wider use despite being hampered by excessive setup
time and computational requirements. 2-D applications outnum-
ber 3-D applications due to scaling laws. It is expected that FEA
applications will become more numerous as computational power in-
creases and moves closer to the user with improvement in desk-top
computers.
Advances in automatic mesh generation algorithms have the
potential to increase use of PEA methods by an order of magnitude.
The integration of manufacturing applications into systems will be
paced by software, and will be slow and incremental.
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252
APPENDIX B
Integration
Individual functions of drafting, modeling of solids, FEA, and
computer-numericaBy controlled (CNC) machining and other pro-
duction functions are performed or assisted by specialized applica-
tions software. The degree of integration among functions is low,
limiting the impact of each application to incremental productivity
improvements. Integration is especially limited for functions that
occur at different levels or in different parts of the manufacturing
organization, such as FEA and other engineering analyses on one
level and CNC machining and other computer-aided manufacturing
(CAM) functions on another.
There is some possibility that artificial intelligence (Al) meth-
ods will effect major breakthroughs in conceptual design, automated
analysis, or machine diagnosis. It is more likely, however, that appli-
cations wiD simply become (incrementaDy) "smarter" as Al methods
are integrated into new computer-aided design (CAD) and CAM
software. In the short term, the principal impact of AT will be to
produce better user interfaces for existing applications and improved
programming environments for developers.
MAJOR TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
The Shifting Price and Performance Curve
The most important trend in CIM software is the rapidly im-
proving price and performance ratio of computing platforms. Con-
tinuing and rapid price and performance improvements in hardware
increased the scale of applications and accessibility by the user.
Three-dimensional analyses are becoming more common; graphics
displays and responses to design change inputs are approaching real-
time. Applications that formerly ran on mainframes have moved
to workstations and those that ran on workstations have moved to
personal computers (PCs). General-purpose drafting, for example,
will become exclusively a PC application in the near future. Sev-
eral packages for solid modeling and finite element analysis are now
available for the IBM-PC and the Apple Macintosh.
The Market and Major Players
.
The improving price and performance relationship of comput-
ing platforms has caused a change in the structure of the market
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APPENDIX B
253
that win continue and accelerate. Most CAD/CAM software ven-
dors are moving toward workstations, standard hardware, unbun-
dled software, personal computers, third-party distribution, and iow-
cost/high-volume sales strategies. Noncommodity, high-unit-price
software eventually will be restricted to small specialized niche ap-
plications and computation-intensive or graphics-intensive applica-
tions.
CAD/CAM software, like other software, is becoming increas-
ingly international. Non-U.S. customers represent increasing frac-
tions of the customer base of U.S. CAD/CAM software suppliers.
Non-U.S. customers represent 25 percent of total sales of AutoCad,
the largest supplier of PC-based drafting software.
Developing countries, especially Brazil, the People's Republic of
China, India, and Mexico, are growing markets and are especially
aggressive in acquiring U.S. CAD/CAM software. This trend may
raise new questions for export policy since, in many of these countries,
attitudes about software copyright protection are much more casual
than in the United States.
THE LEADING INDUSTRY PLAYERS
The United States leads in both development and use of new
CAD/CAM software applications. Europe is second, lagging in de-
velopment but not in use. Japan is third, having a strong orientation
toward hardware, less toward software.
However, with regard to the development and use of integrated
computer-aided manufacturing systems, the Japanese may arguably
be the world leaders. Leadership in the general numerically controlled
machine too] market is already Japanese. It should be pointed out
that Japanese companies often make and install their own automa-
tion systems, in contrast to the more typical U.S. practice of purchas-
ing equipment from a commercial vendor, often through a third party
acting as a systems integrator. While individual computer-controlled
machines are common in Japan, plantwide networks are not.
Major centers of CIM-related research outside of the United
States include: Hitachi Production Engineering Research Labora-
tory, Yokohama, Japan; MIT] Electrotechnical I,aboratory, Tsukuba,
Japan; MITT Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, Tsukuba, Japan;
WPI`, Technical University of Berlin, West Berlin, West Germany;
OOZE, Technical University of Aachen, West Germany; Computer
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APPENDIX B
and Automation Institute, Budapest, Hungary; and Royal Institute
of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
The level of interest of the Council for Mutual Economic As-
sistance (CMEA) countries in CAD/CAM technology is not easily
ascertained. The attendance of representatives of CMEA institutions
at U.S. CAD/CAM conferences is very limited. One notable excep-
tion is the Computer arid Automation Institute, Hungarian Academy
of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. Whether the lack of attendance re-
flects a genuine lack of interest or simply constraints imposed by the
system is unclear.
PROTECTABILITY
Domestic software manufacturers are concerned that little or
no copyright protection exists beyond U.S. borders, and software
piracy is widespread. AutoCad, for example, puts hardware locks on
versions of its software destined for European customers. It does not
protect U.S. copies because of increased logistical requirements and
customer resistance.
PC-based drafting wiD be the easiest CAD/CAM technology for
CMEA countries to acquire and assimilate due to the availability of
PC software and manuals, lack of vendor support requirements, and
lack of dependence on other applications.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
finite element
