INTRODUCTION

One can speak of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) if the computer is used in all phases of the production of some industrial product. In this paper we will focus on the design of the product-flow and the information-flow, which occurs when products are actually produced. Topics like product-development, marketing and management are beyond the scope of this paper. The technique used in this paper is based on a theory for concurrency, called process algebra (see or). It can be used to describe the total phase of manufacturing, from the ordering of raw materials up to the shipping of the products which are made from this materials. During this process many machines are used, which can operate independently, but often depend on the correct operation of each other. Providing a correct functioning of the total of all machines, computers and transport-services is not a trivial exercise. Before actually building such a system (a CIM-architecture) there must be some design. Such a specification, when validated, describes a properly functioning system.