Justification techniques for advanced manufacturing technologies

Abstract

A major problem in the adoption of advanced manufacturing systems for the automated factories of tomorrow is the prerequisite justification process. Many worthwhile projects have been turned down because the qualitative benefits could not be included in the justification procedure while the direct cost savings were insufficient to meet the financial hurdles set by the firm. This paper identifies and demonstrates the range of techniques that have been used by firms to justify automation investments and describes the conditions under which it is most appropriate to employ them.