DIGITAL CONTROL AND AUTOMATION SYSTEMS.

It is shown that adaption of computers to the production environment has dramatically increased the knowledge available to management for determining time, labor, and materials costs necessary to produce a finished product. The advent of microprocessors has enabled the factory computer to monitor with even greater exactness these same parameters at the point best suited to collect these data: the production floor. The next step is to provide higher resolution and monitor those parameters in real time and facilitate their collection by extending the capabilities of the factory data terminal. This extension of capabilities will result in savings derived from waste reduction, optimized utilization of manpower and machinery energy, reduction of downtime, and a higher resolution of product costs. Such savings, combined with the extended capability afforded the operator, make extended factory data terminals a welcome addition to the market.