The Shaping of Software Systems in Manufacturing: Issues in the Generation and Implementation of Network Technologies in British Industries

This paper looks at the design and implementation of Computer-Aided Production Management systems. It argues that CAPM systems have been promoted as being much more orderly and highly synchronised than they in practice are. It also considers the ideologies of 'flexible' production and work organisation which have accompanied the promotion of these software systems. The paper examines CAPM implementation in a sample of industries. It describes how systems are reconfigured upon introduction, to meet user needs and to be compatible with existing production practices and work organisation. It argues that theories which see technological development in terms of simple linear paths and work organisation models are flawed. It thus offers a reconceptualisation of technological change and of the relationship between this and work organisation. Finally, it briefly discusses implications for national industrial technology policy.