Convenience

Feedback
Feedback
Thermostat
tests air
(
sensor
)
©
C
en
ga
ge
Lea
rn
ing
F I G U R E 1 5 . 2
A Simple Automatic Control Mechanism
All automation includes feedback, information, sensors, and a control mechanism.
A simple thermostat is an example of automation. Another example is Benetton’s
distribution center in Italy. Orders are received, items pulled from stock and
packaged for shipment, and invoices prepared and transmitted, with no human
intervention.
computer-assisted
manufacturing
A technology that
relies on computers
to design or
manufacture
products
Chapter 15:
Managing Operations, Quality, and Productivity
4 6 7
Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
www.MyEbookNiche.eCrater.com

---

Flexible manufacturing systems
(FMSs) usually have robotic work units or worksta-
tions, assembly lines, and robotic carts or some other form of computer-controlled trans-
port system to move material as needed from one part of the system to another. Ford
Motor Company used FMSs to transform a factory producing nothing but low-cost
compact cars into a plant capable of making a variety of pickup trucks and SUVs.
Using traditional methods, the plant would have been closed, its workers laid off, and
the facility virtually rebuilt from the ground up. But by using FMSs, Ford was able to
keep the plant open and running continuously, while new equipment was being installed
and its workers were being retrained in small groups. Ford continues to be a pioneer in
FMS as it adjusts plant capabilities to produce pickups, SUVs, or small hybrids,
depending on fluctuations in market demand and supply.
These systems are not without disadvantages, however. For example, because they
represent fundamental change, they also generate resistance. In addition, because of
their tremendous complexity, CAD systems are not always reliable. CIM systems are so
expensive that they raise the breakeven point for firms using them. This means that the
firm must operate at high levels of production and sales to be able to afford the systems.