The biennial International Conference on Production Research (ICPR) first held in 1971 is widely regarded as the ranking conference for the dissemination and promotion of high level research in the fields of Manufacturing Engineering and Process Technology, as well as Operations Management and Production Economics. International Journal of Production Research (IJPR) has close association with ICPR, as well as with the Foundation for Production Research, of which it is the official journal.
The ICPR has visited most corners of the globe, reflecting the importance of production research to the developed and developing industrial nations across the world. The nineteenth conference, from July 29 to August 2, 2007, was organised and hosted by the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile, with the theme “The Development of Collaborative Production and Service Systems in Emergent Economies”. This was the first time ICPR had been held in South America, and it was intended to display the advanced Brazilian, Mexican and Argentinian manufacturing, Ecuatorian efforts to diversify their products and exports, and the development of Chilean agricultural and mining exports industry.
The scientific programme for the nineteenth ICPR had the general topics: Re-engineering and Innovative Approaches to Design; New Technologies and Manufacturing Processes; Emerging Trends in Manufacturing Systems; Advanced Methods for Production Systems; New Organisations for Manufacturing Enterprises; Human Factors; Environmental and Social Issues. This issue presents a selection of papers from the conference, which have been updated, extended and subject to further peer review. Proceedings of the conference are available at the conference website (www.ICPR19.cl/mswl/Download.html).
In 2009 ICPR returns to China, the University of Hefei having been hosts in 1991. ICPR 20, with the theme “Science and Technology to Promote Harmonised Production”, will be hosted by the University of Science and Technology China, Shanghai on 2 to 6 August 2009. Conference topics include: Advanced Design and Manufacturing Technology; New Ideas and Approaches in Production Management; Production Economics and Harmonisation; Sustainable Design and Green Manufacturing; Human Factors and Ergonomics; Robotics and Application to Production; Micro and Nano Technologies; Supply Chain Enabling Technologies.
For further information please refer to (www.ICPR20.cn) or e-mail ([email protected]).
John E. Middle
Editor