Computer integrated manufacturing: An exploratory study of key organizational barriers

Despite claims in recent research and popular business press that a number of attractive benefits can accrue through the use of computer integrated manufacturing systems (CIM), there has generally been only sporadic attempts to adopt and implement them. Case-oriented research using in-depth interviews with multiple respondents in three large corporations was performed during the period 1987 to early 1989; two of the corporations were users of these technologies and the third a vendor of CIM systems. The results of these interviews reinforce the preponderance of managerial and organizational issues over technological issues as a major barrier to effective implementation and use of CIM. Furthermore, the findings point out the prudence of an incremental approach to adoption and implementation of CIM to insure adequate corporate sponsorship. The significant cultural upheaval and organizational changes that occur with introduction of CIM-type technologies are critical factors to be recognized and managed. This exploratory case-based empirical study did not find support for a few of the other issues reported in past research to be problems such as lack of collaboration arrangement between the vendor of the systems and customer, or poor product-process fit or inadequate comparison of technological alternatives when embarking on CIM-type investments. Based on the findings from this study, a number of issues worthy of future research have been pointed out.