Information modelling: An integration of views of a manufacturing enterprise

To compete in world markets, manufacturing enterprises must design and produce new products in an effective, competitive manner. To minimize product introduction times, they must be versatile, open to change, and ideally able to design and modify their own facilities and processes in parallel with new product design. The Factory Design Software Environment provides designers with an information-centred range of modelling and evaluation tools to enable progressive design of the manufacturing enterprise. The benefits of applying alternative views of the enterprise, throughout the design process are presented through an industrial case study.