How Information Technology Enables the Potential flexibility and Re-Configurability of Highly Automated Manufacturing Plants

Abstract This paper will present an industrial approach to the realization of flexible manufacturing systems, based on the strong integration of mechanical design flexible automation and software engineering. Information technology provided a powerful analogy to shape the behavior of such manufacturing systems; from the fields of operating systems we get a strong base to design and implement their control system, and finally from software engineering methodology we derive a new approach to develop manufacturing systems, capable to face new challenges in the competitive global market.