ABSTRACT
Manufacturing management is at a stage in its evolution where major choices have to be made about the appropriate future direction to be travelled. Information systems provide the means of recognising these choices and provide of themselves different routes to the future. The strategic information flow should be in an interactive loop. Information from the market place must be obtained in a form appropriate to manufacturing decision-making. Manufacturing industry is at a critical stage in its evolution. Many long held beliefs and practices are being shown not to be universally valid. Effectiveness of the total system in satisfying the customer is the new critical factor which may be affected by the ‘efficiency’ of one interdependent functional area having an adverse impact elsewhere in the system. Depending on the choice made there are major differences in the nature, form, substance and location of manufacturing information and critically the roles and task structures of people in the system.
