Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers. 41 Springer-Verlag London Limited 1994 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1 st edition 1994The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made.Typesetting: Camera ready by contributors 69/3830-543210 Printed on acid-free paper vi managerial problems is discussed in Chapter 7. First, the problem of production planning for multi-product CIM systems is dealt with for both linear and non-linear cases. Then, the problem of optimizing the operation of an autonomous manufacturing/supply chain and a composite inventory-marketing problem are considered. Finally, an integrated multi-product dynamic model for long-term strategic planning is given.The next part of the book examines topics relating to modeling and control of Flexible Manufacturing Systems. Chapter 8 addresses the implications of information control and technology in integrated control and management of the shop-floor operations. Heuristic and knowledge based approaches are emphasized. Modeling of manufacturing systems using Petri nets theory is discussed in Chapter 9. The modeling techniques are analyzed from the standpoint of system performance evaluation and optimization, including deadlock handling and efficiency prediction. Automated synthesis of performanceoriented Petri net models is examined. Chapter 10 deals with the problem of fault tolerance in computerized manufacturing systems. Explicit introduction of fault tolerance at the specification and the design stage of modem manufacturing systems is proposed. A case study of the Volvo Uddevalla computerized assembly plant is presented.Chapters 11 and 12 deal with the issues of Computer-Aided Design in its broad aspects. Chapter 11 presents computer-aided process planning tasks as the link between CAD and CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) systems. Both fully automatic planning and group technology approaches are looked upon based on the results of two BRITE/EURAM projects. In Chapter 12, computer-aided design process based on features is discussed. Features are used as vehicles to introduce functional aspects into CAD techniques.Finally, Chapter 13 describes advantages and difficulties of implementing Just-In-Time technology in manufacturing systems. Upon a discussion of the JIT environment, three case studies are presented.The editors wish to thank all the chapter authors for their contributions to the book. Many of the authors are well-known scholars in modem manufacturing and information technology areas. Many of them are respected instructors and long-time colleagues of the editors. Their names are listed in the list of contributors. Our thanks also go to Miss Imke Mowbray and Mr. Nicholas Pinfield, editor at Springer Verlag for their help with the book production. We are thankful to Suchitra Mathur and Dayana Stetco, who helped ed...