the major topics of the past PROLAMAT conferences are:

- Advanced Manufacturing Technology

Advances in CAD/CAM - Software for Discrete

Manufacturing

-Software in Manufacturing

An interesting evolution over the past decade is that the conference has been expanded from Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) to Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). More emphasis is placed on various system integration issues related to product design, planning, and manufacturing activities through new computer and communication technologies. The conference includes papers and presentations for basic research and advanced applications from academia and industry.

The main theme of this year's conference was Human Aspects in Computer Integrated Manufacturing. Computer-based systems are now being widely used for manufacturing automation. Many routine jobs in production can now be carried out automatically without much human intervention. Regardless of this increasing degree of computer automation, there still exist important tasks for which human intelligence and physical actions are definitely required. Therefore, an important goal of advanced manufacturing systems is to integrate computers with humans, rather than to isolate humans from automated systems. However, as computer automated systems become more sophisticated, the role of humans in these systems becomes harder to define and manage. It is important to investigate the proper balance and integration schemes so that humans and computers can work in harmony, realizing a productive

working environment for engineers that could amplify their original ability and creativity.

This year's conference was held at the Surugadai Memorial Hall at the Chuo University in Tokyo from June 24 to 26, 1992. It brought together almost 221 scientists and engineers from 19 countries. The participant distribution was as follows:

Country

Italy Japan Korea

No. of

1

1

The two keynote speeches were:

1. Amalgamation of Human Intelligence with Highly Automated Systems-An Approach to Manufacturing Structure in the 21st Century in Japan, Institute of Technology.

2. FMS-A Complex Object of Control, by Professor J. Peklenik of University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.

In his presentation, Professor Ito explained the trends of the humanParticipants intelligence-based manufacturing, and summarized possible configurations and required functions of one of its variants-the Thought-Based Manufacturing Systems (THOMAS). He discussed two research issues that will play important roles in THOMAS: culture of manufacturing and understanding of deep knowledge and flair of mature engineers to manufacture human sensitivity-oriented and art-like products. The presentation illustrated some interesting concepts for future manufacturing enterprise. Some of these concepts seem to be similar in spirit to those being proposed in the western world; but, because of language translation differences, comparisons are hard to draw.

Byelorusia Canada

Estonia

1

Finland

4

France

9

Germany

10

7

144

12

Professor Peklenik introduced a new concept in viewing manufacturing activities/objects from the system control point of view, and, hence, allowing a more rigorous approach to model flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). He outlined the basic assumptions, the system control models, and explained the requirements for such an approach. Several examples were given, which helped to understand how this approach can be applied to practical cases in the factory. It is clear that as more complexity and intelligence are being added to modern manufacturing systems, more powerful analysis approaches, like the one introduced by

Professor Peklenik, will be essential for research and development efforts in this area.

The two invited speeches were:

1. CAD/CAD/CAM Perspectives at Chrysler Corporation, by Dr. G. Olling of the Chrysler Corporation.

2. The Roles of Man and Computer in CIM Systems, by Dr. Toshio Ito of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.

To complement the two keynote speeches from university researchers, the two invited speakers' presentations were more industrial oriented. Both focused on the main issues of computer automation and how humans should effectively fit into those highly automated systems. They gave detailed case studies from their respective companies to illustrate the impact of automation on organization and human productivity.

The six organized paper sessions were focused on the following preselected technical areas:

• Architecture and

Methodologies to Design Advanced and Integrated Manufacturing Systems, organized by G. Doumeingts of France

• Shortening of Development
Time, organized by F.-L
Krause of Germany

• Product Modeling and Data-
Driven Applications in Design
and Manufacturing, organized
by T. Kjellberg of Sweden
• Computer Aided Process
Planning in CIM Environ-
ment, organized by D. Kochan
of Germany

• Sensor-Based Intelligent
Manufacturing, organized
by Y. Hatamura of Japan
• Scheduling in CIM

Environment, organized by
A. Rolstadas of Norway.

These areas gave a very good description of the technical scope of the rest of the conference discussions. Total of 19 papers from known researchers in the area were invited to be included in these organized sessions. Unlike typical paper sessions, each organizer tried to create a unified technical theme among paper presentations in each session, which greatly helped understanding the the state-of-the-art of technology. These organized sessions were highly worthwhile and well attended, adding much to the total success of the conference.

The regular paper sessions were for papers submitted to the conference through a formal Call for Paper Announcement and went through the normal paper review procedures. The topics of these papers covered a very wide range of CIM areas. Although the conference organizer tried to group them according to the following 16 broad topics, a cohesive theme for each paper session, as is the case in most conferences, is difficult to obtain:

• Advanced Manufacturing Systems.

Overall, the PROLAMAT '92 was a successful conference. The conference chairpersons, Professor F. Kimura and Dr. G. Olling, did a very good job in planning and organizing this international event. Members of the local organizing committee and support staff, led by Professor Kimura, worked very hard to ensure a smooth execution of conference plans. The social events (with invited speeches) were very enjoyable and successful. There were many interesting technical subjects in the areas of CIM been presented and discussed by researchers and practitioners around the world during this conference. The conference proceedings is professionally published by NorthHolland as IFIP Transactions, Volume B-3 (ISSN 0926-5481). The conference, proceedings, and discussions firmly established a solid foundation for manufacturing software development that is the long-lasting goal for PROLAMAT.

PRE- AND POST-CONFERENCE TECHNICAL VISIT/TOUR

Tours and visits to the following Japanese factories were arranged by the conference organizer:

1. Fanuc-Head Office and Plants-Oshino-mura, Yamanashi-ken. Fanuc is a comprehensive manufacturer of factory automation equipments. Its wideranging factory automation (FA) products integrate basic technologies, in industrial computers, control motors, etc. At the same time Fanuc is also a major producer of electromechanical products based on FA technologies that include industrial robots, plastic injection molding machines, and CNC wirecut EDM. Fanuc headquarter is

located at the foot of Mt. Fuji, in a wonderful natural environment. The electronics factory, control motor factory, laser factory, machining factory, robot assembling factory, injection modelling machine factory and system factory are settled here.

2. Nissan Motor-Zama PlantZama-shi, Kanagawa-ken. The Zama plant is one of Nissan's nine major domestic manufacturing facilities. The plant was the world's first automobile plant to employ body assembly robots and is among the key car assembly facilities of Nissan. The plant exports knockdown kits and provides technical assistance for Nissan's overseas operations. It also maintains a machine and tool plant where it designs and manufactures press dies, jigs, robots, and other special purpose machinery. We also visited fully automated manufacturing lines.

3. Makino Milling MachineAtsugi Plant-Aiko-gun, KanagawaKen. Makino developed Japan's first numerically-controlled milling machine, machining center, adaptive control system and automatic die and mold machining system. The wide range of machines available is helpful in selecting machines best suited for a job. At Atsugi plant, an advanced FMS is operating. At every stage of the production process, all the employees showed scrupulous dedication to machine building in the micron precision, which is the cornerstone of the reputation for quality. We visited a large machine assembly line and FMS factory.

4. Matsushita-Seiko-Kasugai Plant-Kasugai-shi, Aichi-ken. Matsushita Seiko has focused on technologies centered on wind and air. The inner-rotor-type condenser motor, with direct winding from outside, is produced by means of fully automatic machines that enable 24-h unmanned production and further eliminate quality instability caused by

manual operations, ensuring steady high-quality production. The production systems of this condenser motor, which suggests the future course of production, enables high productivity and steady high quality in every country.

5. Yamazaki Mazak Minokamo -Minokamo-shi, Gifu-ken. The plant consists of FMS machining lines capable of performing all processes in completely unmanned operation, a high precision sheet-metal FMS that can finish all processes from design to assembly in only five days, and a material handling system using a 22,000 rack automatic storage and retrieval system and AGVs to link the material center, the FMSS, and the assembly area. This plant constantly produces products at the leading edge of technology, such as the developed lathe based on completely new production concepts, and a series of ultra-high-speed CNC lathes.

6. Toyota Motor-Motomachi Plant-Toyota-shi, Aichi-ken. The Motomachi plant is one of Toyota's main automobile production facilities. This plant contains divisions for the design and manufacture of stamping dies for automobile bodies. (In these divisions, a CAD/CAM method is used, and automobile bodies are developed from the design to the machining of the die face, based on consistent numerical data.) It can be seen how a series of the processes involved in automobile body development greatly contribute to shortening lead time and improving the quality of automobile bodies. We visited the continuous year-round flexible production system for machining stamping dies.

7. Nippondenso-Kota Plant-Nukata-gun, Aichi-Ken. Nippondenso develops, designs, and manufactures its own production equipments and flexible manufacturing systems, including automated mass

production lines for high-speed assembly, flexible and automated production lines capable of finishing a wide range of products in random order and easily adaptable to model changes. They are currently installing plantwide an automation system through which production lines will be directly linked to production control and quality control systems. We visited an automated assembly line for hybrid IC regulators and a production line for monolithic integrated circuit.

Stephen C-Y. Lu has a B.S. degree from the National Taiwan University in Taiwan, M.S. and Ph.D degrees from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Robotics Institute of Camegie-Mellon University, U.S.A, where he is currently a tenured full Professor. Dr. Lu is a Research Professor of the Beckman Institute and a Faculty Associate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is the founder and current Director of UIUC's Knowledge-based Engineering Systems Research Laboratory which pioneers in the areas of AI-based approaches to advanced engineering

automation.

Dr. Lu's research interests are in the development of artificial intelligence (AI). He has published over 140 technical papers, reports, chapters, and books.

Dr. Lu has received numerous awards. In 1990 he was appointed as a University Scholar for his excellent contributions to scholarly activities. Recently he was awarded a Fullbright Scholarship in the Senior Research Professor category and an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists to perform research at the Production Technology Centre (PTZ) in Berlin, Germany.