Thesis (MScEng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.C.I.T.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2005. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan. 5, 2006). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-87). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-45). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (M.S.)--Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 2006. / Adviser: Roger Chang. Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-55)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-144).

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the academic requirements for the Degree of Doctoral of Technology in Mechanical Engineering, Durban Institute of Technology, 2005. / Increased global competition is challenging manufacturing industries to bring competitively priced, well-designed and well-manufactured products into the marketplace as quickly as possible. Manufacturing companies are responding to these challenges in their industry by extending current internet trends to create virtual marketplaces where factories, suppliers, and customers are part of the solution. Pressing demands to reduce lead-time by providing a suitable manufacturing price for a product has become an important step in the current competition age. This thesis presents an approach for providing a quotation for a product via the web, automatically and autonomously. / D

The manufacturing industry is constantly looking for ways to reduce production costs and at the same time to increase productivity. Automation of common manufacturing operations is one of these methods. By automating common manufacturing operations; various machines, robots, control systems and information technologies are used to reduce the overall human input requirement (mental and physical). Recent advances in technology have made it possible to now also automate (or facilitate) the maintenance requirement of these machines and tools. Modern tools and machines, which can estimate when it will fail or when failure is imminent have obvious advantages for predictive maintenance purposes. Another function of this technology is to determine how efficiently a tool or machine operates, or what the quality of the produced goods is. Predictive maintenance can decrease manufacturing plant or machine down times – which have a positive effect on cost-savings – has gained considerable importance over the last two decades.