中英文翻译--计算机与制造业.doc

TheComputerandManufacturingThecomputerisbringingmanufactuingintotheInformationAge.Thisnewtool,longafamiliaroneinbusinessandmanagementoperation,ismovingintothefactory,anditsadventischangingmanufacturingascertainlyasthesteanenginechangeditmorethan200yearsago.Thebasicmetalworkingprocessesarenotlikelytochangefundamentally,buttheirorganizationandcontraldefinitelywill.Inonerespect,manufacturingcouldbesaidtobecomingfullcircle.Thefirstmanufacturingwasacottageindustry:thedesignerwasalsothemanufacturer,conceivingandfabricatingproductsoneatatime.Eventually,theconceptoftheinterchangeabilityofpartswasdeveloped,productedthousandaatatime.Today,althoughthedesignerandmanufacturermaynotbecomeoneagain,thefunctionsarebeingdrawncloseinthemovementtowardanintegratedmanufacturingsystem.Itiaperhapsironicthat,atatimewhenthemarketdemandsahinhdegreeofproductdiversification,themanufacturingentepriseshavetoincreaseproductivityandreducecosts,Customersaredemandinghinhqualityanddiversifiedproductsforlessmoney.Thecomputeristhekeytomeettheserequirements.Itistheonlytoolthatcanprovidethequickreflexes,theflexibilityandspeed,tomeetadiversifiedmarket.Anditistheonlytoolthatenablesthedetailedanalysisandtheaccesssibiltyofaccuratedatanecessaryfortheintegrationofthemanufacturingsystem.Itmaywellbethat,inthefuture,thecomputermaybeessentialtoacompanyssurvival.Manyoftodaysbusinesseswillfadeawaytobereplacedbymore-productivecombinations.Suchmore-productivecombinationsaresuperquality,superproductivityplants.Thegoalistodesignandoperateaplantthatwouldproduce100%satisfactorypartswithgoodproductivity.Asophisticated,competitiveworldisrequiringthatmanufacturingbegintosettleformore,tobecomeitselfsophisticated.Tomeetcompetition,forexample,acompanywillhavetomeetthesomewhatconflictingdemandsforgreaterproductdiversification,hinherquality,improvedproductivity,andlowprices.Thecompanythatseekstomeetthesedemandswillneedasophisticatedtool,onethatwillallowittorespondquicklytocustomerneedswhilegettingthemostoutofitsmanufacturingresources.Thecomputeristhattool.Becominga“superquality,superproductivity”plantrequirestheintegrationofanextremelycomplexsystem.Thiscanbeaccomplishedonlywhenallelementsofmanufacturing-design,fabricationandassembly,qualityassurance,management,materialshandling-arecomputerintegrated.Inproductdesign,forexample,interactivecomputer-aided-design(CAD)systemsallowthedrawingandanalysistaskstobeperformedinafractionofthetimepreviouslyrequiredandwithgreateraccuracy.Andprogramsforprototypetestingandevaluationfurtherspeedthedesignprocess.Inmanufacturingplanning,computer-aidedprocessplanningpermitstheselection,fromthousandsofpossiblesequencesandschedules,oftheoptinunprocess.Ontheshopfloor,distributedintelligenceintheformofmicroprocessorscontrolsmachines,runsautomatedloadingandunloadingequipment,andcollectsdataoncurrentshopconditions.Butsuchisolatedrevolutionsarenotenough,Whatisneededisatotallyautomatedsystem,linkedbycommonsoftwarefromfrontdoortoback.Essentially,computerintegrationprovideswidelyandinstantaneouslyavailable,accurateinformation,improvingcommunicationbetweendepartments,permittingtightercontrol,andgenerallyenhancingtheoverallqualityandefficiencyoftheentiresystem.Improvedcommunicationcanmean,forexample,designsthataremoreproducible.TheNCprogrammerandthetooldesignerhaveachancetoinfluencetheproductdesigner,andviceversa.Engineeringchanges,thus,canbereduced,andthosethatarerequiredcanbehandledmoreefficiently.Notonlydoesthecomputerpermitthemtobespecifiedmorequickly,butitalsoalertssubsequentusersofthedatatothefactthatachangehasbeenmade.Theinstantaneousupdatingofproduction-controldatapermitsbetterplanningandmore-effectivescheduling.Expensiveequipment,therefore,isusedmoreproductively,andpartsmovemoreefficientlythroughproduction,reducingwork-in-processcosts.Productquality,too,canbeimproved.Notonlyaremore-accuratedesignsproduced,forexample,buttheuseofdesigndatabythequality-assurancedepartmenthelpseliminateerrorsduetomisunderstandings.Peopleareenabledtodosheirjobsbetter.Byeliminatingtediouscalculationandpaperwork-nottomentiontimewastedsearchingforinformation-thecomputermotonlyallowsworkerstobemoreproductivebutalsofreesthemtodowhatonlyhumanbeingscando:thinkcreatively.Computerintegrationmayalsolurenewpeopleintomanufacturing.Peopleareattractedbecausetheywanttoworkinamodern,technologicallysophisticatedenvironment.Inmanufacturingengineering,CAD/CAMdecreasestool-design,NC-programming,andplanningtimeswhilespeedingtheresponserate,whicheilleventuallypermitin-housestafftoperformworkthatiscurrentlybeingcontractedout.计算机与制造业计算机正在将制造业带入信息时代。计算机长期以来在商业和管理方面得到了广泛的应用，它正在作为一种新的工具进入到工厂中，而且它如同蒸汽机在200多年前使制造业发生改变那样，正在使制造业发生着变革。尽管基本的金属切削过程不太可能发生根本性的改变，但是它们的组织形式和控制方式必将发生改变。从某一发面可以说，制造业正在完成一个循环。最初的制造业使家庭手工业：设计者本身也是制造者，产品的构思与加工有同一人完成。后来形成了零件的互换性这个概念，生产被依照专业功能分割开来，可以成批地生产数以千计的相同零件。今天，尽管设计者与制造者不可能再是同一个人，但在向集成制造系统前进的途中，这两种功能已经越来越靠近了。可能具有讽刺意味的是，在市场需求高度多样化的产品的同时，制造业必须提高生产率和降低成本。消费者要求用较少的钱去购买高质量和多样化的产品。计算机是满足这些要求的关键因素。它是能够提供快速反应能力、柔性和来满足多样化市场的唯一工具。而且，它是实现制造系统集成所需要的、能够进行详细分析和利用精确数据的唯一工具。在将来计算机可能会是一个企业生存的基本条件，许多现今的企业将会被生产能力更高的企业组合所取代。这些生产能力更高的企业组合是一些具有非常高的质量、非常高的生产率的工厂。目标是设计和运行一个能够以搞生产率的方式生产100%合格产品的工厂。一个采用先进技术的、竞争的世界正在促使制造业开始做更多的工作，使其本身采用先进的技术。为了适应竞争，一个公司会满足一些在某种程度上相互矛盾的要求，诸如产品多样化、提高质量、