ABSTRACT
An American report describes the trend in development of automated batch manufacturing systems in Czechoslovakia as an outspoken trend 'toward extreme flexibility' and evaluated it as a 'true job-shop environment that is typical in the US and other Western countries'. The historical trend of the engineering way of production tended towards 'producing automated machines by automated machines'. The Tovarny Obrabecich Stroju (TOS)-Corporation was involved in this revolutionary change and had to pay more attention to advanced levels of automation. In the 1970s automation reached the level of machining centres and automated shops. A higher level of automation was the target of a new project developed under the auspices of the Ministry of Light Engineer-ing. The Kovosvit Machine-tool Company has acquired a leading position among machine-tool manufacturers. The young management of Kovosvit is broadly known as conceptual in the field of technological progress and has accumulated a remarkable experience in advancement of modern technology.
