Today's manufacturing environment is characterised by significant change in the way it is able to respond to its business objectives. Companies now face new challenges to meet customer demands including greater flexibility, a wider range of products, higher quality, improved lead time, whilst maintaining _c.ompetitive prices. The changes manifest in each company will differ but, the trend is towards providing a leaner, more responsive organisation. This is reflected in the need for Information Technology (IT) systems to be more integrated across an enterprise and for the systems to be provided on a distributed basis. At the same time it is imperative that the costs associated with these IT systems and the range of skills required by an enterprise to develop and support such systems should be minimal. One way of achieving this objective is to adopt the use of standards. During recent years there has been a lot of activity to standardise the way that manufacturing devices communicate with each other. Considerable progress has been made, thanks not least to the success of the international effort of stand ardisation bodies like ISO, IEEE and IEC, and projects applying standardised protocols like Manufacturing Automation Protocol (MAP), in the USA, Commun ications Network for Manufacturing Applications (CNMA) in Europe and not forgetting Mini-MAP and Fieldbus technology.

Today's manufacturing environment is characterised by significant change in the way it is able to respond to its business objectives. Companies now face new challenges to meet customer demands including greater flexibility, a wider range of products, higher quality, improved lead time, whilst maintaining _c.ompetitive prices. The changes manifest in each company will differ but, the trend is towards providing a leaner, more responsive organisation. This is reflected in the need for Information Technology (IT) systems to be more integrated across an enterprise and for the systems to be provided on a distributed basis. At the same time it is imperative that the costs associated with these IT systems and the range of skills required by an enterprise to develop and support such systems should be minimal. One way of achieving this objective is to adopt the use of standards. During recent years there has been a lot of activity to standardise the way that manufacturing devices communicate with each other. Considerable progress has been made, thanks not least to the success of the international effort of stand ardisation bodies like ISO, IEEE and IEC, and projects applying standardised protocols like Manufacturing Automation Protocol (MAP), in the USA, Commun ications Network for Manufacturing Applications (CNMA) in Europe and not forgetting Mini-MAP and Fieldbus technology.

The Industrial Communication Technology Handbook focuses on current and newly emerging communication technologies and systems that are evolving in response to the needs of industry and the demands of industry-led consortia and organizations. Organized into two parts, the text first summarizes the basics of data communications and IP networks, then presents a comprehensive overview of the field of industrial communications. This book extensively covers the areas of fieldbus technology, industrial Ethernet and real-time extensions, wireless and mobile technologies in industrial applications, the linking of the factory floor with the Internet and wireless fieldbuses, network security and safety, automotive applications, automation and energy system applications, and more. The Handbook presents material in the form of tutorials, surveys, and technology overviews, combining fundamentals and advanced issues with articles grouped into sections for a cohesive and comprehensive presentation. The text contains 42 contributed articles by experts from industry and industrial research establishments at the forefront of development, and some of the most renowned academic institutions worldwide. It analyzes content from an industrial perspective, illustrating actual implementations and successful technology deployments.

Featuring contributions from major technology vendors, industry consortia, and government and private research establishments, the Industrial Communication Technology Handbook, Second Edition provides comprehensive and authoritative coverage of wire- and wireless-based specialized communication networks used in plant and factory automation, automotive applications, avionics, building automation, energy and power systems, train applications, and more. New to the Second Edition: 46 brand-new chapters and 21 substantially revised chapters Inclusion of the latest, most significant developments in specialized communication technologies and systems Addition of new application domains for specialized networks The Industrial Communication Technology Handbook, Second Edition supplies readers with a thorough understanding of the application-specific requirements for communication services and their supporting technologies. It is useful to a broad spectrum of professionals involved in the conception, design, development, standardization, and use of specialized communication networks as well as academic institutions engaged in engineering education and vocational training.

The proceedings of a congress concerning Open Communications, the basis for cost effective Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), are presented. The congress was sponsored by the Commission of the European Communities, DG XIII (Telecommunications, Information Industries and Innovation), at Stuttgart's Annual Machine Tool Fair, 4-7 September 1990. The book provides an overview of international initiatives on implementing open communications in manufacturing/engineering environments, including available communication products on the market. Topics covered encompass industrial needs for open systems for manufacturing, pilot implementations in the USA, Japan and Europe, and introduction to MMS (Manufacturing Message Specification) and NMT (Network Management). Technological solutions that enable the implementation of real multi-vendor environments and allow the full integration from design to manufacture or from order to distribution are also explained. Furthermore, the book highlights the work done in the ESPRIT flagship project, "Communication Network for Manufacturing Applications". During the project's lifetime several experimental and industrial pilot sites were commissioned and these are explained in detail. The book is unique in that it describes both the business strategy and the technological approach. It is aimed at decision makers and people that need to have an up-to-date technical understanding and awareness of future trends in manufacturing systems. Production Engineers, Systems Engineers, Technical Managers, Business Managers, EDP Staff, and Academics will find it useful.

The Industrial Information Technology Handbook focuses on existing and emerging industrial applications of IT, and on evolving trends that are driven by the needs of companies and by industry-led consortia and organizations. Emphasizing fast growing areas that have major impacts on industrial automation and enterprise integration, the Handbook covers topics such as industrial communication technology, sensors, and embedded systems. The book is organized into two parts. Part 1 presents material covering new and quickly evolving aspects of IT. Part 2 introduces cutting-edge areas of industrial IT. The Handbook presents material in the form of tutorials, surveys, and technology overviews, combining fundamentals and advanced issues, with articles grouped into sections for a cohesive and comprehensive presentation. The text contains 112 contributed reports by industry experts from government, companies at the forefront of development, and some of the most renowned academic and research institutions worldwide. Several of the reports on recent developments, actual deployments, and trends cover subject matter presented to the public for the first time.