Fawzy Soliman, Stewart Clegg and Tarek Tantoush
Current advances in information technology and, in particular, computer‐aided design/computer‐aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems, have…
Abstract
Current advances in information technology and, in particular, computer‐aided design/computer‐aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems, have led organisations to undertake significant investments in these systems. Next generation manufacturers require both systems to maintain or gain a competitive advantage, reduce risks and improve productivity and viability. In addition, recent attention to the implementation of CAD/CAM systems highlights their important role in automating complex design and next generation manufacturing processes. In the next millennium more manufacturers are likely to implement CAD/CAM and ERP systems and hence issues in the integration of CAD/CAM with ERP systems must become a major concern. Accordingly, this paper will: explore the problems of integration of CAD/CAM systems with ERP systems; study how the severity of these problems relates to CAD/CAM integration success; propose a set of critical success factors (CSF) for the integration of CAD/CAM with ERP systems; suggest hypotheses to study the relevance of these CSF for successful integration of CAD/CAM with ERP systems. In addition, the paper also demonstrates the importance of successful integration of CAD/CAM systems with other applications for next generation manufacturers. These findings suggest that integration of CAD/CAM systems with ERP systems is complex, involving many factors.
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Tarek Tantoush, Stewart Clegg and Fiona Wilson
Discusses the issue of computer‐aided design/computer‐aided manufacturing (CADCAM) integration from an organizational point of view. The installation of cross‐functional…
Abstract
Discusses the issue of computer‐aided design/computer‐aided manufacturing (CADCAM) integration from an organizational point of view. The installation of cross‐functional integrating technology in manufacturing organizations involves technical problems related to hardware, software and database interfacing, as well as data exchange and communication requirements. Such technical problems are perhaps more obvious and widely recognised than the organizational challenges involved in the process of organizational change that accompanies implementation. This paper uses a case study approach to analyse data gathered from two UK manufacturing companies over a five‐year period. The aim here is to compare and contrast the experiences of the two companies with a view to explaining how organizational processes contribute or otherwise to the adoption of CADCAM integration as a business strategy. A conceptual model is devised to analyse the data from the cases using a grounded qualitative research methodology. It is concluded that the crucial technological change competencies are political rather than either technological or economic. Some tactical elements of these are elaborated from the case studies.