II. Vocabulary.

Ex.1. Make up the collocations

fixed electronic process flexible-batch hardware software

technologies design size date-bases automation

Ex.2. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate word-combination from ex.1.

1. A well-designed automated flexible manufacturing system not only promotes economical production of … but also eases the transition from one product to another.

2. … can’t offer increased process speed, it doesn’t permit users to adapt rapidly to changes in product or product mix.

3. In seconds a computer pulls the information out of your … and displays it on the screen.

4. The growth of simulation will depend on the effective use of both …

5. Proper balance among the physical, logical and control components of a manufacturing enterprise must be maintained during….

III. Grammar.

Ex.1. Translate the following sentences paying your attention to the emphatic constructions.

1. It the integration of CIM that will provide much of the additional benefits that factory automation has to offer.

2. This is the area where the quantum increases in productivity will ultimately be available, and it is the area, to which the term computer-integrated manufacturing applies.

3. And it is from factory system integration that automation solutions to manufacturing problems are derived.

4. It is not the sound of the voice that travels over the wire, when we talk over a telephone.

5. It is these experiments that led to a discovery of electron emission.

IV. Comprehension.

Ex.1. Define the number of the passage from the text containing information about:

1. Synergistic systems.

2. Batch factory;

3. Functions of factory automation;

4. Integration types;

5. The advent of CAD/CAM systems.

Ex.2. Agree or disagree with the following statements.

1. Engineering automation includes all of the hardware and software technologies that do not support the automation of the engineering activities.

2. Manufacturing automation is all of the automation that supports the production of finished goods from raw materials.

3. System integration is the technology and activity that supports only the hardware technology.

4. There is a conflict between engineering and manufacturing organizations.

5. The CIM integration is important for extra benefit than factory automation.

Ex.3. Answer the questions.

1. What are the key functions of factory automation?

2. What does engineering automation include?

3. What are the three types of integration?

4. What are the main forms of automation?

5. How can a batch factory become more like a continuous process factory?

Ex.4. Choose from the episodes 1-5 the one which fits each gap A-E in the text.

1. One of them is perhaps the ultimate expression of manufacturing science. Its intent is to move industry through a three-step process designed to maximize efficacy to help it evolve from a sluggish and cumbersome labour-sensitive enterprise to a responsive information system whose output just happens to be hard goods. It has opened the door to improved productivity, quality and profitability for manufacturing facilities of all sizes.

2. A system is neither – completely integrated nor completely unitegrated. In fact, every manufacturing system in place today is partially integrated for without some integration it would not be possible to produce complex products. From an information system point of view, this simple model can be used to represent a manufacturing system that consists of processes and data both of which can be handled by a computer.

3. This is the area where part variety is too high for transfer lines and where production volume is both too low for transfer lines and other dedicated process, but at the same time too high for economical production, using stand-alone style-spindle machines. But the greatest process in industrial automation has so far been made in the chemical and allied industries, particularly those involving continuous production.

4. The machines are programmed by their design to make only certain processing operations. They are not easily changed over from one product to another. This form of automation needs high initial investments and high production rates. That is why it is suitable for products that are made in large volumes. Examples of this type of automation are: machining transfer lines found in the automobile industry, automatic assembly machines and certain chemical processes.

5. It provides permanent long-tem savings plus numerous intangible benefits including higher quality products, shorter production runs, increased worker satisfaction and greater manufacturing flexibility. It affects major elements of the business. In the engineering operation, quality and producibility are designed into the product. In the manufacturing process quality is built into the product, and the efforts to simplify product design pay offs in lower manufacturing costs. And information systems permit the quality of the product and the flow of production to be monitored and controlled in real time.