Powerful marketing, economic and technological forces are driving manufacturing toward greater functional integration. Computer integrated manufacturing and flexible manufacturing systems will be the logical outgrowth of these pressures. Functional integration will place special demands upon the people in the factory environment of the future, affecting jobs and organization structure. Specialized jobs, based upon ‘scientific management’ will yield to the multi skilled worker. Flexible work roles will in turn affect training, employee motivation and manufacturing organization structure. The authors discuss implications of these trends for introducing new manufacturing technology into existing facilities.

Robotics will revolutionize American manufacturing. The unmanned factory of the future will bring with it a new systems orientation to strategic planning and will, at last, make operations a part of the top management team.