Growth, crisis and future of the factory

The process of industrialization in the 19th century was coupled with the existence of the factory. The organization of the work within factories through the combination of manual and mechanical activities led to a substantial productivity increase and a significant improvement in living standards. The satisfaction of basic needs and consumer demands led initially to the refinement of products and production processes; while at a later stage they contributed to the crisis of the factory. Presumably a new period of growth for the factory starts due to the thrust of innovation in the information technology. The key element of the future production renewal is the computer integrated and flexible automated factory of the future, which provides a continuous production flow and ties together energy, materials and information. Substantial parts of the computer integrated production are communication networks, intelligent generation systems, computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided planning (CAP), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided quality control (CAQ) and stimulation systems. These combine intelligent machine-tools, intelligent robots, intelligent assembly machines, intelligent inspection machines and intelligent means of transportation within the factory of the future. The artificial intelligence and the possibility of remote control due to the developments in the information technology are the prerequisites for the setting-up of new production schemes. Next to the central organized factories, new decentralized production structures can be developed which would make possible drastic changes in the social life.