32.1 FACTORS TO CONSIDER

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There are a number of factors in a company which must be considered when evaluating the need for CAD/CAM/CAE/CIM/etc systems. Some of these are listed below,

external

- company crisis

- markets Niche/Global/Home/ etc.

- competition

- customer requirements

internal

- corporate objectives, mission and culture

technological

- available technology

- research & development

success factors

- the role of management

- worker security

- corporate organization

- unions

- middle management

- worker motivation

- training / worker abilities

- cash

- purchasing

- design engineering

- etc.

Current popular planning strategies include,

Cost management

- direct costing

- effective capital investments

- space utilization

Cycle time reduction

- continuous flow manufacturing and vendor supply

- pull manufacturing

- business and process reengineering

Market driven quality

- defining market needs

- first to market

- agile manufacturing

- 6 sigma quality

Automation

- process

- warehouse

- information

CIM

- simplifying and automated processes

- increased information access

We can draw a chart that illustrates the issues that might be encountered,