Theoretical Reflections from Experiences with Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing

As was apparent in the 1990 IIASA ‘CIM: Revolution in Progress’ conference in Vienna, the approach to computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) taken by ‘human centred’, ‘skill based’ or ‘anthropocentric’ researchers is still highly controversial.1 Moreover, within the growing number of human centred design researchers, the exact nature of ‘anthropocentric’ or ‘human centred’ technologies is still a subject of concern and dispute. This was clearly expressed in recent discussions in the first and second Anthropocentric Technology and Society Newsletters.2 What is less controversial, however, is the increasing awareness that: (i) there are different forms of computer integrated manufacturing technologies, (ii) these forms are shaped by socio-political as well as technical considerations, and, (iii) there exist significant choices to be made between more or less desirable forms of computer integrated manufacturing.

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