The importance of artificial intelligence-expert systems in computer integrated manufacturing

In order to maintain their competitiveness, companies feel compelled to adopt productivity increasing measures. Yet, they cannot relinquish the flexibility their production cycles need in order to improve their response, and thus, their positioning in the market. To achieve this, companies must combine these two seemingly opposed principles. Thanks to new technological advances, this combination is already a working reality in some companies. It is made possible today by the implementation of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, fundamentally by means of expert systems (ES) and robotics. Depending on how these (AI/CIM) techniques contribute to automation, their immediate effects are an increase in productivity and cost reductions. Yet also, the system´s flexibility allows for easier adaptation and, as a result, an increased ability to generate value, in other words, competitiveness is improved. The authors have analyzed three studies to identify the possible benefits or advantages, as well as the inconveniences, that this type of technique may bring to companies, specifically in the production field. Although the scope of the studies and their approach differ from one to the other, their joint contribution can be of unquestionable value in order to understand a little better the importance of ES within the production system