This text addresses the challenges faced by SMEs (small and medium enterprises) due to the globalization of the economy and discusses supporting technologies. It discusses the tendencies and experiences regarding: industrial strategies for peripheral regions; engineering and penetration of new markets; engineering and industrial survival in open markets; regional protection against newcomers; globalization of the economy and subcontracting; and achievement of the appropriate combination of automation and human-centred manufacturing. It focuses on SMEs from small geographical regions.
One Invited Talks.- 1 Business process and shop floor re-engineering.- 2 IT support for the generic tactical decision making process of pricing in competitive consumer markets.- 3 The time based competition paradigm.- 4 Virtual reality in manufacturing.- Two Virtual Enterprises I.- 5 Cross border enterprises: virtual and extended!.- 6 Towards the virtual enterprise in food industry.- Three Virtual Enterprises II.- 7 Information flows and processes in a SME network.- 8 Developing IT-enabled virtual enterprises in construction.- 9 Using an informal ontology in the development of a planning and control system — the case of the virtual enterprise.- Four Learning and Genetic Algorithms.- 10 Federated knowledge integration and machine learning in water distribution networks.- 11 Exploration of an unknown environment by a mobile robot.- 12 Genetic algorithms — constraint logic programming. Hybrid method for job shop scheduling.- Five Mechatronics.- 13 Kinematic study of biped locomotion systems.- 14 Adaptive hybrid impedance control of robot manipulators: a comparative study.- Six FMS Control and Tooling.- 15 A cell controller architecture solution: description and analysis of performance and costs.- 16 Strategies and fundamental structures for FMS tool flow systems.- 17 Analytical assessment of tooling requirements for FMS design and operation.- Seven Systems Design and Control.- 18 Sustainable software design with design patterns.- 19 SimBa: a simulation and balancing system for manual production lines.- 20 SOMA: an organic and autonomous approach to manufacturing planning and control.- Eight Simulation.- 21 Life cycle simulation for verifying sustainable model of products.- 22 Manufacturing system simulation model synthesis: towards application of inductive inference.-Nine Multi-Agent Systems.- 23 Multi-agent collaboration in competitive scenarios.- 24 The establishment of partnerships to create virtual organizations: a multiagent approach.- Ten Modeling and Integration.- 25 Business process modelling: comparing IDEF3 and CIMOSA.- 26 Integrating infrastructures for manufacturing: a comparative analysis.- Eleven Systems Integration I.- 27 Designing an Internet based Teleproductics system.- 28 A model of methodology need for AQAL production system.- 29 An interface integrating design and mfg in small size companies.- Twelve Systems Integration II.- 30 Contributions for ethernet based networking in manufacturing systems.- 31 Global AICIME — an integrated approach to support SMEs in the global electronic commerce environment.- Thirteen Vision and Sensors.- 32 A measurement software for vision machine applications.- 33 Design and uncertainty of an opto-mechanical device for checking CMM touch trigger probes.- Fourteen Virtual Reality and Education.- 34 Virtual reality full immersion techniques for enhancing workers performance.- 35 Mechatronics education: examples in the UK and a proposal in Brazil.- Fifteen Manufacturing Management Strategies.- 36 Cost-oriented strategic manufacturing and quality planning for BPR.- 37 Experiences in information systems development for maintenance management: a techno-organisational view.- 38 A methodology on work-flow control system in large-scaled job shop line.- Sixteen CAD/CAM.- 39 Enhanced pocket milling strategy for improved quality.- 40 PROBACOM computer aided project based on features.- 41 Manufacturing process modeling method for CAD/CAM and flexible manufacturing systems.- Seventeen Performance Indicators.- 42 Performance indicators and benchmarking in manufacturing planning and controlsystems.- 43 Dynamic Tableau-de Bord: concept, tools and applications.- Eighteen Optimization and Analysis.- 44 Visual modelling interfaces for the cutting stock problem.- 45 Developing finite element simulation of sheet metal stamping process — a contribution to virtual manufacturing.- Index of contributors.- Keyword index.