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The Competitive Edge Research Priorities for U.S. Manufacturing (1991) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Pages 1-2

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From page 1...
... The report identifies and analyzes research needs in five critical areas of manufacturing: intelligent manufacturing control, equipment reliability and maintenance, advanced engineered materials, manufacturing skills improvement, and the product realization process. Intelligent manufacturing control requires research in several areas.
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From page 2...
... manufacturing. Potential results include: · Highly specialized processing of metals, ceramics, and polymers to yield radical improvements in materials' strength and toughness; · Equipment operators working synergistically with intelligent control systems that are capable of predicting, preventing, or automatically remedying equipment failure; · Autonomous manufacturing control systems that exploit human powers of perception, pattern recognition, and problemsolving in conjunction with machine capacity for manipulating vast amounts of data; · Global information systems that enable electronic virtual enterprises to access and coordinate the localized design and manufacturing capabilities of village industries all over the world; and · Production handled by highly skilled professionals working as components of human-machine systems that are linked integrally with management functions.
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Key Terms

  • intelligent manufacturing
  • manufacturing technology
  • skills improvement
  • product realization
  • advanced engineered

  • pattern recognition
  • manufacturing skills
  • engineered materials
  • inadequate technology
  • realization process

  • five critical
  • localized design
  • virtual enterprises
  • equipment operators
  • preparing students

  • inappropriate performance
  • neither cultivating
  • materials include
  • manufacturing studies
  • management intelligence

  • manipulating vast
  • processing methods
  • requires research
  • sensor technology
  • report identifies

  • developing intelligent
  • radical improvements
  • data integration
  • highly specialized
  • exploit human


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