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Abstract
The purpose of this article is to assess what we can and what we cannot expect to accomplish with the promising object-orientation in manufacturing. Emerging object-oriented programming (OOP), analysis (OOA), modelling and problem-solving (OOM/P), design (OOD), databases (OODB), and control (OOC) are reviewed and evaluated for their contributions to solving manufacturing systems engineering problems with emphasis on CIM applications. The extent to which the object-orientation has already been suitable and practical, the open issues and emerging capabilities, and the manufacturing problem areas for which the object-orientation cannot offer a solution are identified and analysed using illustrations from five case studies developed at Purdue University, and relative to the recently defined ‘foundations of manufacturing systems’.