Firth‐Derihon Stampings are one of the UK's leading forgings manufacturers, and, in common with many large engineering concerns, ran into difficulties in the 1970s with the world recession. In addition, they experienced understandable difficulties in controlling the logistics of manufacturing...

The core of any manufacturing company is formed by production, marketing and research and development (R&D). In the future production and R&D need to integrate their efforts to solve problems more quickly and to generate more effective plant designs. For production/R&D links the most important...

Electronic mail (E‐mail) is simply a means of transmitting the written word (and even graphics and charts) via the telephone line. It readily combines the best features of the telephone and traditional mail service, enabling instant communication with other E‐mail subscribers, both...

So swift and dramatic have been technological changes over recent decades that the significant accompanying organisational changes can easily be overlooked. The author considers the effect that such changes have had on larger companies, particularly those that have established specialist...

The profusion of available and advancing electronic control technology poses problems of timing and choice for both the user and designer. The author discusses these dilemmas.