Developments in manufacturing technology now enable specialized industries such as shipbuilding to adopt Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) to realize lower production costs by integrated control of the material procurement, work flow, scheduling and assembly process. Reflecting on the small differential presently found in the United States versus overseas labor costs, these CIM gains could capture an international market niche for the United States shipyards. To develop a basis for introducing CIM. This one and half day workshop will discuss both practical problems and a research agenda for the industry.
