ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the demarcation adopted by the US Bureau of Standards is adequate, and illustrates later in the context of the automatic factory. Information technology (IT) is the modern name for the means by which the authors collect, store, process, and use information. It is built around the scientific, technological, engineering, and management disciplines used in information handling and processing, and at the present time is generally regarded as relating to computers and the interaction between man and machine. Engineering production and production management are concerned with the effective use of people, products, plant and processes in modern manufacturing industry. The oldest IT use in Computer Aided Planning (CAP) is at the level of management information systems. The next IT application area in manufacturing industry to be considered is Computer Aided Design (CAD), in which computers plus graphics terminals are used as tools in both conceptual and detail design phases of a new product.
