Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

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The need to increase productivity, improve quality and increase flexibility whist continuously reducing costs is driving manufacturers to search for alternative means of converting the product idea into a manufactured product. Plant automation systems which are the nervous system and increasingly the intelligence of the plant have an integral role to play in this regard. This study investigates the convergence between traditional IT and Industrial Automation with a view to understanding how this phenomenon will affect operational excellence within the manufacturing environment. The study further investigates the key determinants of success for automation systems within the broader business context and how this can lead to an advantage over competitors. The study is limited to manufacturing operations within the greater Durban area. The results revealed that there is a clear relationship between industrial automation and information technology in manufacturing organisations. However, of interest is the fact that in the majority of the organisations surveyed the two functions operate as separate entities within the organisation resulting in overlaps of responsibility and accountability for key equipment and processes. Factory efficiency was found to be the key determinant of success in the majority of the organisations surveyed whilst the provisioning of production data when used strategically was found to have a positive effect in allowing the organisation to gain an advantage over its competitors. Due to the limitation of the short time frame allocated to this research, the study could not go in detail into the drivers of these findings consequently recommendations for further research is made. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

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Today's manufacturers tend to use integrated manufacturing systems in order to achieve the capability to quickly respond to customer's requirements and produce high quality products in the shortest possible time and at the lowest possible cost. However, due to insufficient resources, manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are having difficulties in achieving this flexibility and competing with large companies. By integrating the manufacturing resources of many partners, which may be located in different regions, SMEs can form a global SME network to achieve the competitive edge. This need for the integration of globally distributed manufacturing resources across enterprise boundaries has been conceptualised with an integration concept of Virtual Computer Integrated Manufacturing (VCIM). / VCIM extends Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) system to the next stage of virtual enterprise, and aims to provide the capability to quickly respond to customers' product orders based on working status information of distributed resources in real time. In a VCIM system, manufacturing resources may belong to different partner enterprises, or be located at different areas, but all have the intention of working together to achieve market screen. The emphasis of VCIM is to integrate many manufacturing resources and provide cohesive services for customers who may be at different locations. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2007.