A set of techniques which integrate various subtechniques that
can be used in computer control or process control for various forms of
manufacturing. Computer-aided manufacturing implies the integration
of all aspects of manufacturing systems within the factory, i.e. the
use of computer techniques not only for process control but also for
aspects such as automatic ordering of materials, predicting material
usage, factory scheduling, inventory control. predicting machine
changeover, and projecting manpower requirements. Computer-aided
manufacturing is particularly important as it follows naturally from
computer-aided design. See also numerical
control, computer-aided testing.
