Application Integration For CIM

The Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) architecture consists of three Ievels of integration: physical, application and business. This paper focuses on the CIM application integration. After the physical connections are established between stand alone systems, the next level in developing a CIM based enterprise is to architect an application integration strategy. There are three key areas to support this level of CIM integration: the manufacturing process, a central data repository and the applications to manage the distributed processes. Understanding the actual process includes an analysis of the current state of the facilities and operations. The central data repository is the focal point for shared data that can be accessed by both users and applications. The CIM applications are based on new technologies which include Application and System Enablers.