ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the nature of computer assisted manufacture (CAM) and its current use in manufacturing industries. It considers the nature of CAM and its current use in manufacturing industries. The chapter examines the organizational implications of various approaches to the design of CAM jobs. It aims to evaluate the consequence of these job designs in terms of their effects upon the well-being of the operator and the performance of the system. The chapter explores the implications of CAM for industrial relations. CAM is a generic term for a wide range of computer controlled machines. The fact that CAM can lead to relative deskilling of jobs has been well documented in a number of studies across a variety of technologies and organizational settings. In many organizations, the allocation of tasks is such that as many as possible are assigned to specialists whilst leaving operators with the minimal number of tasks.
