A strategic decision support system for supply network design and management in the semiconductor industry

This paper presents a strategic decision support system (DSS) which has been conceptualized and designed by SEMATECH^* to assist the large semiconductor manufacturing organization in managing its extensive supply chain network. This DSS has been named “Manufacturing Enterprise Model” or “MEM”. MEM ties each factory and its primary metrics to the rest of the business enterprise to assess how changes in wafer fabrication affect other factories, the distribution system, and customer deliveries. The model is intended to be used to evaluate future factory concepts and to assist business planners in strategic decisions about product allocation and major resource/facility planning.     

BCL and CIM

The paper outlines the new EIA RS-494 standard, “32 Bit Binary CL exchange (BCL) input format for numerically controlled machines” and its impact on computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). The advantages and disadvantages of BCL in a CIM environment are discussed at length.     

The scope and order of CIM

This paper presents a set of familiar methodologies which can be applied to perform a systematic analysis, on a batch manufacturing type of business, yo establish the scope of computer integrated Manufacturing (CIM). The means to address the myriad interactions among the business functions, as well as their order of precedence, requisite to this definition are also described. The expected result of employing this approach is a viable plan for a totally integrated manufacturing environment (TIME) which tends toward the utopian goal of “the factory of the future”.     

CIM—the integration of manufacturing and information systems

The integration of computers within the manufacturing environment has long been a method of enhancing productivity. Their use in many facets of a manufacturing enterprise has given industries the ability to deliver low-cost, high-quality competitive products. As computer technology advances, we find more and more uses for new hardware and software in the enterprise. Over a period of time, we have seen many “islands” of computer integration. Distinct, fully functional hardware and software installations are a common base for many industries. Unfortunately, these islands are just that, separate, distinct and functional but non-integrated. The lack of integration within these information systems make it difficult for end users to see the same manufacturing data. We are finding the need for a “single image” real-time information system to provide the enterprise with the data that is required to plan, justify, design, manufacture and deliver products to the customer. Unfortunately, many industries have a large installed base of hardware and software. Replacement of current systems is not a cost-justified business decision. An alternative would be the migration of current systems to a more integrated solution. The migration to a computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)-based architecture would provide that single image real-time information system.

The effort and skills necessary for the implementation of a CIM-based architecture would require active participation from two key organizations: Manufacturing and information systems (I/S). The manufacturing engineers, process engineers and other manufacturing resource would be the cornerstone for obtaining requirements. The ability to effectively use I/S is a critical success factor in the implementation of CIM. I/S has to be viewed as an equal partner, not just as a service organization. Manufacturing management needs to understand the justification process of integrating computer systems and the “real” cost of integration versus the cost of non-integrated manufacturing systems. The active participation of both organizations during all phases of CIM implementation will result in a effective and useful integrated information system.     

Expert vision systems integrating image segmentation and recognition processes

In this paper, we propose a prototype rule-based system which integrates segmentation and recognition processes to analyze and classify objects in an image. This is quite different from the traditional image analysis paradigm which treats segmentation as a prerequisite for recognition and interpretation. There are four basic components in the system, i.e., low-level image processing, feature computation, domain-independent, and domain-dependent subsystems. In the low-level image processing subsystem, various “nonpurposive” operators are employed to divide the image into uniform and homogeneous regions based on the information of intensities. The feature computation subsystem extracts features of each individual region. The domain-independent subsystem employs weak knowledge to filter out “obviously impossible” regions while the domain-dependent subsystem uses domain-specific knowledge to improve the results and finally recognize the objects of interest in the image. Two sets of images are used to demonstrate the capability and flexibility of this system. One set consists of distributor caps (auto parts) of different shapes. The other set is composed of tomographical image pairs acquired by MRI and PET.     

The good old days versus today: The changed hardware and software security requirements with automation

The introduction of a computer, whether it is an integral part of a larger system or not, brings with it many security problems that must be addressed. Frequently the new security needs are the results of the loss of old security measures, such as separation of duties or access control to documents, destroyed by the introduction of new equipment. Also, one must now protect the equipment from theft, environment hazards, and both careless and malicious acts of individuals.

In “the good old days” (read ten to twenty years ago), computer security was a relatively simple matter, even in a manufacturing environmental. The reason for the apparent simplicity was that the use and impact of computgers was limited. Employees learning how to use a computer could be told “Go ahead. There is nothing you can do that will really hurt anything,” with a fair chance of having been told the trut. Computers were used primarily in business (office) applications with a frew “island” out in the shop. Now, all that has changed. In generally, as computers have gotten closer to the user, security has become more of a problem. In early installations, security has a secure room. Later, users and programmrs submitted their program through a window, then went back later to pick up their results through the same window. Now, access may be from a great distance.

In the new computer integrated environment, whether in office automation or in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), the impact of bad input into a computer or the deliberate or inadvertent alteration of awhat is already in the computer can have disastrous consquences throughout the business. The acronyms crucial to the automation of the manufacturing and engineering functions (e.g., MRP, CAD, CAM, CAE, DFA, FMS, AS/RS, AGV, CIM, et al) all depends heavily upon file data interdependenc and integrity (which, in turn, depents on file security). Yet, in general, the topics of security, training in security, and the need for security tend to get short shift in industry. We belive that a formal, intense, and continuous information and training program, starting with those officers at the top of the corporation, is needed for a heavily automated company to stand the best chance of having a system that is not violated.     

An expert system framework for a CIM based quality inspection system

With today's competitive marketplace moving toward a goal of lean, error free manufacturing a need for technological change in quality decision making has arisen. One approach to this new “quality” standard involves tying quality analysis to the theory of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). In this paper a model of such a system is presented including the application of an expert system to enhance dimensional tolerancing and data analysis in quality control. Our expert system will also serve a dual role as a technological link to a CIM environment through the use of IGES computer aided design data.     

Erp Packages: What's Next?

The traditional focus of IT operations no longer meets the challenges of tomorrow's fast-changing business environment. in the new millennium, CIOs will be required to shift their focus from internal information processing to external information processing. By taking on the role of “corporate antenna” and generating the business intelligence that matters, IT will, for the first time in history, start to exercise its true strategic role on corporate operations.     

Personalization of internet telephony services for presence with SIP and extended CPL

This paper discusses issues of personalization of presence services in the context of Internet Telephony. Such services take into consideration the willingness and ability of a user to communicate in a network, as well as possibly other factors such as time, address, etc. Via a three-layer service architecture for communications in the session initiation protocol (SIP) standard, presence system basic services and personalized services (personal policies) are clearly separated and discussed. To enrich presence related services, presence information is illustratively extended from the well known “online” and “offline” indicators to a much broader meaning that includes “location”, “lineStatus”, “role”, “availability”, etc. Based on this, the call processing language (CPL) is extended in order to describe presence related personalized services for both call processing systems and presence systems using information such as a person’s presence status, time, address, language, or any of their combinations. A web-based system is designed and implemented to simulate these advanced services. In the implementation, personal policies are programmed by end users via a graphic user interface (GUI) and are automatically translated into extended CPL. The simulation system clearly displays when, where and what CPL policies should be used for the provision of personalized presence services and call processing services. Policy conflicts are also addressed by setting policy priorities in the system.     

A modular and integratable approach to CIM

The factory of the future holds the promise of improved productivity and efficiency through the computerization of manufacturing applications. To fulfill this promise, computer technologies must provide superior results for each targeted manufacturing application. One approach to providing those superior results takes advantage of the natural evolution of manufacturing operations, a modular set of computeraided applications that can be integrated. Each module provides a “pocket of excellence” that can be integrated through networking as and when such communication becomes advantageous. Graphics workstation technology has provided dramatic improvements in performance, at price levels attractive to more segments of the industry than ever thought possible. Modular systems already exist that take advantage of this technological explosion through application software tailored to specific manufacturing functions. Communications between these modular applications can be achieved by networking but only at the discretion of the user, not at the discretion of the vendor. This paper will discuss how industry can increase productivity and efficiency by adopting a modular computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) approach that is practical.     

The Rotorcraft Pilot''s Associate: design and evaluation of an intelligent user interface for cockpit information management

The US Army's Rotorcraft Pilot's Associate (RPA) program is developing an advanced, intelligent “associate” system for flight demonstration in a future attack/scout helicopter. A significant RPA component is the intelligent user interface known as the Cockpit Information Manager (CIM). This paper describes the high-level architecture of the CIM, with emphasis on its pilot-perceptible behaviors: Crew Intent Estimation, Page Selection, Symbol Selection/Declutter, Intelligent Window Location, Automated Pan and Zoom, and Task Allocation. We then present the subjective results of recent full mission simulation studies using the CIM to illustrate pilots' attitudes toward these behaviors and their perceived effectiveness.     

Unsupervised texture segmentation using Gabor filters

This paper presents a texture segmentation algorithm inspired by the multi-channel filtering theory for visual information processing in the early stages of human visual system. The channels are characterized by a bank of Gabor filters that nearly uniformly covers the spatial-frequency domain, and a systematic filter selection scheme is proposed, which is based on reconstruction of the input image from the filtered images. Texture features are obtained by subjecting each (selected) filtered image to a nonlinear transformation and computing a measure of “energy” in a window around each pixel. A square-error clustering algorithm is then used to integrate the feature images and produce a segmentation. A simple procedure to incorporate spatial information in the clustering process is proposed. A relative index is used to estimate the “true” number of texture categories.     

Color enhancement of highly correlated images. I. Decorrelation and HSI contrast stretches

Conventional enhancements for the color display of multispectral images are based on independent contrast modifications or “stretches” of three input images. This approach is not effective if the image channels are highly correlated or if the image histograms are strongly bimodal or more complex. Any of several procedures that tend to “stretch” color saturation while leaving hue unchanged may better utilize the full range of colors for the display of image information. Two conceptually different enhancements are discussed: the “decorrelation stretch”, based on principal-component (PC) analysis, and the “stretch” of “hue”-“saturation”-intensity (HSI) transformed data. The PC transformation is scene-dependent, but the HSI transformation is invariant. Examples of images enhanced by conventional linear stretches, decorrelation stretch, and by stretches of HSI transformed data are compared. Schematic variation diagrams or two- and three-dimensional histograms are used to illustrate the “decorrelation stretch” method and the effect of the different enhancements.     

A methodology for expressing CIM reference architectures

TNO is doing research in many areas of industrial automation and is heavily involved in European projects financed by R&D programmes such as Esprit, Eureka and Brite, and in many ISO and CEN standardization activities. From this experience it becomes clear that the I of Integration in CIM has not only to do with the integration of the so-called “islands of automation” but also with the integration of ”islands of manufacturing”: how we can improve the transfer of manufacturing knowledge. We have to increase the semantic content of our integration approaches, so that not only can computer scientist be involved, but also people from the companies we are trying to help, and people who are responsible for the development of new CIM components. The real problem is not a problem of technical integration of computers, but much more a “conceptual modelling” problem. Fundamental questions are, for instance, how we can, on the semantic level really required, model information transfer upstream and downstream in the product life cycle. Based on the analysis of existing CIM projects such as CAD*I, CIM- OSA, Open CAM Systems (Esprit I) IMPACT (Esprit II), CAM-I's CIM Architecture, the Danish Principal model for CIM, and more, we developed a generic and reusable CIM reference architecture. This architecture shows manufacturing activities, real and information flow objects, CIM components and industrial automation standards like STEP, MAP, TOP, EDIFACT, MMS etc. in an integrated way. In this paper we describe the CIM base model used to express the CIM reference architecture and give some details of the CIM reference architecture itself.     

The basic concepts for ISO/IEC's Image Interchange Format (IIF)

This paper describes the basic concepts for the Image Interchange Format (IIF) for the first International Image Processing and Interchange Standard (IPI), which is under elaboration by ISO/IEC JTC1/SC24 (International Standards Organization/International Electronics Commission, Joint Technical Committee, Computer Graphics)—i.e., “information processing”/“computer graphics”—committee work. Starting with a discussion of existing image formats and current image interchange practices, this study outlines the need for a new approach to a general image interchange format. A requirements list and corresponding design goals for the IIF are presented. Finally, the relation to the other parts of the IPI standard are described. The authors are coworkers and contributors to the relevant committees within the ISO/IEC and the DIN German Institute for Standardization (DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung).     

MIPAS: A neural network-based multimedia information processing and analysis system

This paper presents the structure and design criteria of a neural network-based multimedia information processing and analysis system (MIPAS) which can be used to deal with more-complicated intelligence issues. According to the structure and design criteria, a software environment (SEMIPAS), which supports the implementation of multimedia information (image + speech, image + characters, speech + characters, image + speech + characters) processing and analysis applications, is implemented and introduced. Under this software environment, a multimedia information processing and analysis system called “To Know the World” is constructed. Experiments show that the multimedia information processing and analysis is much more powerful and effective than single-medium information processing and analysis.     

Law, learning and representation

In machine learning terms, reasoning in legal cases can be compared to a lazy learning approach in which courts defer deciding how to generalize beyond the prior cases until the facts of a new case are observed. The HYPO family of systems implements a “lazy” approach since they defer making arguments how to decide a problem until the programs have positioned a new problem with respect to similar past cases. In a kind of “reflective adjustment”, they fit the new problem into a patchwork of past case decisions, comparing cases in order to reason about the legal significance of the relevant similarities and differences. Empirical evidence from diverse experiments shows that for purposes of teaching legal argumentation and performing legal information retrieval, HYPO-style systems' lazy learning approach and implementation of aspects of reflective adjustment can be very effective.     

Building an E-Business Strategy

E-business is heralding what is being called “the new economy.” To help managers negotiate this new business landscape, this article proposes a strategic breakout methodology for transforming organizations into E-businesses. This four-stage methodology makes use of SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, and each of the four stages has its own activities, tasks, and outputs. By giving executives a tool that is familiar (SWOT) and yet targeted to this fast-changing environment, companies can quickly react to changes in their own environments.     

A general treatment of dynamic integrity constraints

This paper introduces a general, set-theoretic model for expressing dynamic integrity constraints, i.e., integrity constraints on the state changes that are allowed in a given state space. In a managerial context, such dynamic integrity constraints can be seen as representations of “real world” constraints and business rules. This topic has important practical applications in many business areas. The notions of (direct) transition, reversible and irreversible transition, transition relation, and consistency of a transition relation will be introduced. The expected link with Kripke models (for modal and temporal logics) is also made explicit. Several practical examples of dynamic integrity constraints will illustrate the applicability of the theory. Some important subclasses of dynamic integrity constraints in a database context will be identified, e.g., various forms of cumulativity (which can be regarded as “transitional” inclusion dependencies concerning two different “points in time”), non-decreasing values, integrity constraints on initial and final values, life cycles, changing life cycles, and transition and constant dependencies. Several formal properties of these dependencies will be derived. For instance, it turns out that functional dependencies can be considered as “degenerated” transition dependencies. Also, the distinction between primary keys and alternate keys is reexamined, from a dynamic point of view.     

Transaction exchange management systems for successful systems integration

The objective of this paper is to discuss the strategy to be taken by computerized information system managers and developers in the evolving era of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). Specifically, more concentration should be directed towards a standardized methodology for the management and handling of the transaction data which flows between two or more systems, rathr than upon the hardware and software technology used to “connect” those systems.