Book reviews terns is then discussed together with fractals. This is a straight- forward descriptive presentation, and its context in terms of manu- facturing is illustrated. These con- cepts are then applied to manu- facturing issues of organization for the remaining 190 pages of the book.

In terms of manufacturing, Pro- fessor Warnecke defines a fractal as "an independently acting corporate entity whose goals and performance can be precisely described." It is the operation of the fractals and their interrelationships and dependencies that are discussed. The importance of information flow is highlighted, and the implementation within the

context of CIM presented. The idea of linking the organiza-

tion of manufacturing to the work within natural sciences is novel, and deserves to be pursued further. Certainly, some of the concepts can be transferred, but whether it lends itself to analytical analysis for modelling purposes is debatable.

There is no doubt that this book should be of interest to a wide range of readers interested in manufactur- ing. Some of the ideas may not be accepted, but they should nonethe- less stimulate discussion.

R J GRIEVE Brunel University,

UK

For manufacturing practitioners Advances in Factories oE the Future, CIM and Robotics edited by M Cotsaftis and F Vernadat. Published by Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1993. $182.74. 537 pp.

This book is Volume 16 in the series 'Manufacturing Research and Technology'. It contains selected papers from the 8th International Conference on CAD/CAM, Robotics and Factories of the Fu- ture, held in Metz, France, August 1992. As the title suggests, the conference covered a wide range of subjects, all contributing to the stated aim of 'advances of the many facets of productivity enhancement in manufacturing enterprises'.

Contributions were from both the industrial and academic sectors. Included are 47 papers, conveni- ently arranged under the following section headings: 'Factories of the Future' , 'New Management Approaches', 'CIM Modelling', 'Information Systems', 'Knowledge Based Systems for Manufacturing System Simulation', 'Computer Aided Engineering and Design', 'Metal Cutting and Assembly

Processes', 'Manufacturing Cell Layout' , 'Scheduling and Multi- Level Control of FMS', "FMS Analysis with Petri-Nets', 'Fault Diagnosis and Maintenance', 'Robotics System Representation', 'Collision Avoidance and Traject- ory Generation', 'Robotics System Control' , and finally, 'Industrial Applications'. Although this is a long list, it does reasonably represent the book's contents, and demonstrates its scope.

It is a pity that the section relating to industrial applications is small in comparison with the rest of the book. This perhaps demonstrates the usual problem of applying theoretical work to industrial applications. In many respects, the fundamental or theoretical work is

the easy part; implementing it so as to run efficiently, consistently and reliably so as to make a profit is difficult. As is usual these days, the printing has been taken direct from the authors' submissions in camera ready form. Also with conferences, there is often a limit on the length of papers. This trend shows in this book. Some of the papers are relat- ively short, which does not allow a thorough presentation of the subject matter. This is to some extent allayed by the fact that all the papers are well referenced, allowing access to more detailed information.

The foreword by the editors 'sets the scene' and provides the reader with the layout and rationale behind the book. They emphasize produc- tivity enhancement from the view- point of factories of the future, techniques and tools for automated manufacturing, robotics and indus- trial applications. The contents are likely to offer something to manu- facturing practitioners no matter what aspect of manufacturing they are interested in. New ideas are presented based on technology and engineering control to system modelling and organizational issues. It is doubtful if an individual would buy the book, it being more likely to reside on library shelves for access by many. It will be of interest to those who are concerned with the fundamental issues in manufacturing generally, and who wish to look ahead towards what might be developments in the future.

R J GRIEVE Brunel University,

UK

Well-structured JIT introduction Just-in-Time ManuEacturing: An Introduction by T C E Cheng and S Podolsky. Published by Chapman and Hall, London. 1993. £35. 226 pp.

The preface is brave in suggesting that the book 'presents a compre- hensive summary of the ideal methods of JIT implementation', and that it 'carries the reader through

Vol 7 No I February 1994 67

Book reviews the incremental process of JIT implementation'. This is a worthy goal, and even partial success would be a significant achievement.

On reading the contents list I was impressed by its comprehensiveness and detail, and by its emphasis on implementation and the people element in JIT. Much is written about JIT, but few books tackle the very real difficulty of 'how to get there from here', preferring to concentrate on descriptions of a better life to aspire to or on the detail of techniques such as Kanban or line-stopping. Practical advice to the target reader - 'those in industry' - is a refreshing idea.

The content, however, singularly fails to meet the book's aims. The style is readable and the strong structure makes it easy to dip into; but while the content of individual elements is generally of high quality, too many inconsistencies appear between different elements. This is frustrating to the reader, but it may be characteristic of JIT, rather than the book, in that finding a fine balance between different forces is

required to operate a factory at peak performance.

Another strength and weakness is the repeated use of lists and charts from other sources. Though valuable as a source of reference, it adds to the inconsistencies between elements, and stresses the piece- meal character of the book.

With or without these frustra- tions, the book succeeds or fails in its aim by the quality of its advice on JIT implementation. Unfortun- ately, the positive stress on the role of people in JIT success creates further opportunity for confusion by failing to clearly set out the relationships between JIT, Total Employee Involvement, Total Quality Management, Total Quality Control and Continuous Improve- ment. Though each is capably explained, their inter-relationships are not; this is best illustrated by the fact that the case study of JIT implementation is called a TQM project by the company itself. The case study offers no information on techniques such as self-inspection, JIT supply or supplier reduction,

set-up reduction or cycle-time reduction; though significant reduc- tions in lead times were realized, this is through the application of a mini-factory concept.

The poor case study combines with a short implementation chapter to offer little insight into the practi- calities of implementation. The most detailed advice given directly to the reader is to use pilot projects, to commence with housekeeping activities, and to deal with employee resistance; this can only be of limited use to the reader embarking on implementation of JIT with this book as a road map.

However, if we choose to ignore the preface then the book's title gains prominence in setting expec- tations for the reader. As a well- structured, strongly referenced introduction to JIT the book works; as a source of implementation advice for budding JIT practitioners it does not.

STEPHEN EVANS The CIM Institute

Cranfield Institute of Technology, UK

68 Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems