ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Within the framework of the IST project, IMS-NoE (Network of Excellence on Intelligent Manufacturing Systems), financed by the European Commission under the 5th Framework Programme, a Delphi study was undertaken with the intent of building a vision on the future of manufacturing with a special focus on the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the next generation of production systems. This paper summarises the results obtained from the Delphi study and proposes a critical analysis in terms of future competitive environment (external drivers), manufacturing enterprise attributes in response to the new market challenges (internal attributes) and key enabling ICT.
