A CIM system is commonly thought of as an integrated system that encompasses all the activities in the production system from the planning and design of a product through the manufacturing system, including control, CIM is an attempt to combine existing computer technologies in order to manage and control the entire business. CIM is the approach that many companies are using to get to the automated factory of the future.

As with the traditional manufacturing approaches, the purpose of CIM is to transform product designs and materials into salable goods at a minimum cost in the chortest possible period of time. CIM begins with the design of a product and ends with the manufacture of that product. With CIM, the customary split between the design and manufacturing functions is eliminated.

Elements of CIM CIM differs from the traditional job shop manufacturing system in the role the computer plays in the manufacturing process. Computer-integrated manufacturing systems are basically a network of computer systems tied together by a single integrated data base. Using the information in the data base, a CIM system can direct manufacturing activities, record results, and maintain accurate data. CIM is the computerization of design, manufacturing, distribution, and financial functions into one coherent system.

A major element of a CIM system is a computer-assisted design (CAD) system. CAD involves any type of design activity that makes use of the computer to develop, analyze, or modify an engineering design. The design related tasks performed by a CAD system are:

˙Geometric modeling.

˙Engineering analysis.

˙Design review and evaluation.

˙Automated drafting.

Another major element of CIM is computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). An important reason for using a CAD system is that is provides a data base for manufacturing the product. However, not all CAD data bases are compatible with manufacturing software. The tasks performed by a CAM system are:

˙Numerical control (NC) or computer numerical control (CNC) programming.

˙Computer-aided process planning (CAPP).

˙Production planning and scheduling.

˙Tool and fixture design.