Real-Time Control of the Industrial Enterprise

Over the last fifty years, almost none of the productivity gains in manufacturing have come from better chemistry or better design, or even better management and financial controls. Rather, those gains have come from better automation and control of the processes: continuous, batch, hybrid , and discrete. The secret to making manufacturing sustainable is better control. So, why aren't the theories that have led to enormous gains in productivity being used above the plant level? This book explains both why not and how better controls can be applied to the supply chain, and to enterprise financial management. This book provides engineering and technology managers the insight and tools for achieving a fully integrated automated manufacturing enterprise, from the technical and engineering side to the business management side. It is particularly helpful to readers seeking to bring the non-technical parts of a manufacturing operation - customer service, cost and financial management - in line with the already-automated production, inventory management, and plant management. The reader will learn: how to use the principles of real-time process control to manage and measure your manufacturing business more effectively; how to achieve much greater speed of information transfer for improved control over supply chain and distribution; and how totally integrated inventory control, automated manufacturing, automated customer service, and smart pricing control - and ultimately lead to higher profits.