How a Robot Factory Would Work.

The article presents information on a report "Making the Automatic Factory a Reality," by graduate students of Harvard Business School headed by professor John T. Diebold. The report studies the prospects of applying automation processes, like those used in oil refineries, to unit manufacturing. The report concludes that the application of automation in unit manufacturing is difficult, because machines are not flexible in handling a group of functions and some product designs are not feasible.