Relational or Object‐oriented or Hybrid?

The relational model and relational database management systems have been the de facto industry standard for organizing and managing data in most computer‐integrated manufacturing environments. In recent years, however, some new database technologies have emerged – namely, object‐oriented and hybrid or extended relational – making the job of the CIM managers more difficult with regard to selecting a database technology that would be most appropriate for their operations. Presents a framework for selecting an appropriate DBMS type in a CIM setting depending on a company′s ENTITY and DATA needs. It is hoped that the presented framework would prove useful to practising managers.