This third edition does not focus on manufacturing systems, JIT, etc., but
introduces the reader to a wide range of manufacturing processes. JIT principles
necessitate the selection of appropriate processes for varying manufacturing
situations, and we have tried to bring out the technological aspects of this throughout
this text. Changes in the industrial scene, with the decline in engineering and the
increased mechanisation of other areas of manufacturing, have made it necessary to
consider the wider field, not just engineering production, but engineering principles
applied to manufacturing in general, whatever the product.
The changing nature of the engineering industry and the curriculum in schools has
also had its.effect on the type of student entering higher education. Whereas the
production or engineering student used to arrive at university with a basic knowledge
of engineering machinery, this knowledge now seems to have been channelled into
the field of computing, and it has been necessary to introduce a larger content of
explanation of basic techniques than previously.