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Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper gives a qualitative treatment of a new approach to the synthesis of sequential control systems. Complex sequential control systems can be assembled from a relatively small number of standard sequence packages. These have useful sequential properties in their own right, but the methods for coupling them together to form larger sequential systems are described by the authors. Additional benefit is gained by using the machine actuators alone as memory devices. This removes any possibility of unintentional disturbance of the state of the memory function in the control system. Three examples are chosen to illustrate the design process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper summarises theoretical and experimental studies of some problems concerning the realisation of broaching of ring thrust faces. It presents descriptions of devices and investigations into the limits of application of this technology such as tool life, the deformation of rings under cutting forces and the stability of rings under clamping forces. The objectives of this project were to increase the productivity rate and continuity of production and to facilitate automation. SUMMARY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists interested in the panorama of work have increasingly brought theft insights to bear on the role of automation in the "dehumanization" of labor, the consequent alienation of the worker from the fruits of his efforts, and the resulting leisure more tedious than the routine of work itself. The attention devoted to these problems suggests that it may perhaps be appropriate to consider a re-evaluation of the notion of work. This paper represents a first approximation at such an attempt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the impact of automation on the society particularly in the U.S. It is stated that automation is part of the larger process of social change which has been going on in human society since its inception and it has had an enormous impact on the production, communication and scientific investigation. The paper emphasizes that since automation represents the highest development to technology, it is inevitable that industries will move in its direction. It discusses the relation of automation to other technologies and how technology is related to the organization of society.

The paper presents a stochastic model for estimation of the dimensional-errors on the surfaces machined on centerless-grinders equipped with automatic post-process gaging and reset type of feed-back control. Examples have been included to illustrate the use of the model in obtaining distributions of the controlled output (diameter of the machined surface) for different combinations of the inherent variability of the machining setup, the measurement error, the rate of tool wear, the reset magnitude, the 'lag', the 'gap' and the sample size. These distributions could be used by the designers and the users for economic comparisons whenever there is a problem of choosing one out of two or more alternative control schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of automatized industrial processes in economic growth. The author observes that many operations in industry, commerce and services are enjoying improvement in their efficiency with the application of automation processes. However, underdeveloped economies may experience difficulty in terms of transitioning to automation processes. Some of the problems in the early stages of development are the lack of capital to buy the necessary equipment, scarcity of skilled labor and well-trained engineers and applied scientists.

The article emphasizes that a capacity for leisure and work is indispensable for health growth and creative development. The advancement of technological science and automation is causing a shrinkage of workaday world. Plans for a six-week vacation and a three-day weekend is now underway. Boris Pregel, former president of the New York Academy of Sciences, states that the work week will be reduced by 20 hours within the next decade. In his book "The Great Contest," Isaac Deutscher states that Russia has now a nation-wide plan of preparing its people for a three-hour workday by 1984.

The article discusses the highlights of a symposium of educators and others concerned with automation held in Washington, D.C. in 1962. The attendees pondered the educational implications of this developing manufacturing technique through which machines control their own operations. Participants in the symposium may revise their papers in the light of the discussion.

The section of "Yarn Production and Properties" focuses on automation in the field of the textile industry. It has been stated that full or partial automation of yarn manufacture, especially for cotton-spinning, was one of the developing concepts during the 1960s. It has also been reported that automation means the linking together of different processes that have for long been regarded as separate, with a manual transfer of material from the output of one stage to the input of the following stage.

A new system is described for measuring fibre diameter distributions rapidly and accurately, with minimum operator participation at any stage, it is based on the scanning of photographic images of aligned fibre snippets by a television camera connected to pulse-width-sorting circuitry, which gives an automatic print-out of the frequency distribution of fibre diameter. Results are given of measurements made with this system on IWTO standard tops that show very close agreement with accepted values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information regarding the analysis of fertility changes in the U.S. According to the theory of demographic transition, the demographic transition of the West would be followed in its essentials in societies currently undergoing industrialization. So far, this prediction has not been borne out in such developing countries as India or Egypt, and it appears to be questionable whether industrialization is the only determinant. The analysis in this study is primarily ecological, though not in the sense of presenting state-to-state comparison of the level of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Rather, changes in the dependent and independent variables are compared cross-sectionally. Since the conclusions are from the observations of the changes in the variables, this procedure is expected to yield results which are theoretically more appropriate for causal interpretation. The changing patterns of fertility suggest that they may be associated with the changes in certain socioeconomic variables in the states.

This article focuses on the level of technical education and training in the first half of the twentieth century which is considered as an age of rapid technological advances. The introduction of automation and other technological advances in industry on a large scale, suggestively, requires some major changes in the training of managers, engineers and technologists, technicians and skilled craftsmen. The author, at first, compares the requirements of technical executives in various industries of Great Britain, with that of the U.S., and other European countries. The chief problem in training engineers and technicians for industry is that most of the problems to be solved do not lie in any one of the long-established fields of engineering. As one of the most widespread of technological changes, the author considers the effect of automation and the training of control engineers destined to develop automatic controls in industry. In view of this consideration, the executives of the future, suggestively, must have at least an appreciation of engineering and technical considerations. Consideration is being given to University courses which include both arts and science subjects, and these followed by a Graduate apprenticeship may well prove a valuable beginning. Post-Graduate Courses, both technical and of the Staff College type, are also argued to be considered essential.

The section of "Developments in the Clothing Industry (1969-1971)" focuses on the developments in the field of sewing machinery in Great Britain during the period 1969-1971. During this period, the emphasis was given on the automation because it was realized by the clothing industry that a reduction in the amount of skill required for the sewing operation can be achieved by automation. It is also reported that the major development area in sewing room machinery design during the period has been in profile and contour seaming. Various number of control tools such as pneumatics, hydraulics, electronics and fluidics were available to the sewing-machine designers.

A method is described of rearranging the basic statistical formulae for calculating the coefficient of variation and adapting these to a method of electronic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the results of a study conducted on the responses of union leaders on automation in the U.S. According to a study, only eight percent of the Americans are threatened in their job by automation. Also, 51 percent believe that automation will result in higher unemployment while 38 percent believe that it will affect people with little education. In addition, 30 percent of union leaders agree that automation on machinery should only be implemented after approval from the workers and the union while seven percent support the right of the unions to hold strikes if companies propose to automate.

The article deals with the human element in the age of automation and mechanization. The author believes that the dangers from radioactive fallout are less pressing than are those from what have ventured to call Emotional Fall-out, the name he give to the by-products of prejudice which cloud and poison the atmosphere of discussion on the common danger of universal mutilation and extinction. He emphasizes that the most dramatic failures were due to human error and not to technical breakdown. He lists some things that humans cannot do classify the laws of nature, buy 100 percent certainties, extract 100 percent assurances and fully blueprint any system of which humans form a significant part.