Manufacturing Systems: Theory and Practice, Second Edition, provides an overview of manufacturing systems from the ground up. It is intended for students at the undergraduate or graduate level who are interested in manufacturing, industry practicing engineers who want an overview of the issues and tools used to address problems in manufacturing systems, and managers with a technical background who want to become more familiar with manufacturing issues. The book has six chapters that have been arranged according to the sequence used when creating and operating a manufacturing system. Thus, the subjects emphasised are: the decision framework for manufacturing, the manufacturing processes, the manufacturing equipment and machine tools, the design for manufacturing and the operation of manufacturing systems. The book attempts a compromise between theory and practice in all addressed manufacturing systems issues, covering a long spectrum of issues from traditional manufacturing processes to innovative technologies such as Virtual Reality, Nanotechnology and Rapid Prototyping.

This text, developed at MIT's laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity, provides an overview of manufacturing from the ground up. Each topic is discussed in terms of the four fundamental manufacturing attributes: cost, rate, flexibility, and quality, and the presentation emphasizes both theoretical developments and practical applications. This new edition has been thoroughly updated throughout and includes a new section on CAD CAM and CNC technologies, virtual reality, metrology, process planning, new tools and software, and simulation.

Overview of Manufacturing Processes.- Machine Tools and Manufacturing Equipment.- Process Planning.- The Design of Manufacturing Systems.- The Operation of Manufacturing Systems.