Software engineering for manufacturing engineers

An important theme in modern manufacturing is the exploitation of computer based technologies. To ensure that such exploitation is effective manufacturing management must have a wide ranging understanding of computer based technologies and their impact on manufacturing organisations. The paper expands this argument as the context for a teaching programme in computing technology which, from 1991, will form part of manufacturing engineering degrees at Loughborough University of Technology. The paper continues with a description of the teaching programme, its main themes and structure, concluding with a discussion of its intended benefits.<>