The intelligent instrument. Its role in factory automation

The technologies associated with manufacturing have undergone several changes in the past decades; the primary business objective forcing these changes has always been the need to increase profitability by improving products and raising productivity. Current management thinking, in order to achieve these objectives, centres on the concept of an automated factory incorporating computer integrated manufacture (CIM), which brings together the design, production, marketing, commercial and financial functions. The author argues that the cost effective implementation of CIM systems depends crucially on the effectiveness of sensors and instruments acquiring plant-level data