CIM at Nippon Seiko Co.

Abstract This article describes a case study of a successful CIM application. The company is applying a computerized total information system to achieve better customer service with lower costs. There are two core systems. FENICS deals with engineering product design and the specification of components and materials for each order. ASPACS links the marketing to production and relates the customer's order to production and inventory control. The NSK case is about the construction of a vertical information system, from customer to production. Another system is the horizontal information system which is an information network e.g. with retailers. NSK uses a top-down approach. First, the total system is planned and then the parts are constructed. The other approach is a bottom-up approach which means the construction of an information system by a piecemeal, step-by-step approach.