Abstract
This paper presents the results of a research project designed to investigate the possibilities of developing generic software for use by production management in smaller manufacturing enterprises (SME). This has exploited the latest development in fourth generation languages (4GLs).
A survey was carried out to establish the current state-of-the-art in computer assisted production management (CAPM) and to identify key areas to be included in the development. The results of this led to the inclusion of materials management, production planning (imaterials and resources), production progressing and costing as the basic cores in the system developed. The choice of 4GL was seen as a crucial factor to the success of the project. The wide availability of these meant that a formalized procedure needed to be developed to select that used by the project team: DAT AFIT DP4. To facilitate the generic nature of the software, and to contribute to its flexibility, a general model of the production process was constructed, built on control theory principles. The data models were based on this. The problems of identifying the functionality to be incorporated into the cores was overcome by the development of a process ‘template prototyping’ by which a structured stage-by-stage brainstorming framework was employed. The generic software developed has been field tested with collaborators in a variety of modes, including prototyping.