At the heart of successful automated manufacturing systems lies the idea of effective integration of various functions. In any sizeable application of a Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) system, an enormous amount of complex data needs to be logically integrated and managed. Presents and...

Earlier research has found that the variability in setup time can play a central role in which it produces paradoxes and can harm effective waiting time, WIP, and capacity as one reduces setup time. Specifically, if setup time is reduced without a reduction in its variance, the waiting time in...

Marketing knowledge and expertise are a critical corporate resource for carrying out strategic decision making that supports marketing functions. Intelligent marketing information systems (IMkIS) can offer a way for marketing managers to share knowledge and expertise. Such sharing could help...

Sarkar and Zangwill (S-Z, [Sarkar, D., W. I. Zangwill. 1991. Variance effects in cyclic production systems. Management Sci. 37(4, April) 444--453.]) have shown that in the presence of variance, setup and processing time reductions can have "detrimental" effects on the work-in-process (WIP)...