Justifying Investment in Advanced Manufacturing Technology

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Towards the end of 1983, the Advisory Council for Applied Research and Development (ACARD) published a report giving the findings of a working group which had been set up to study the factors which inhibited or supported the introduction of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) in engineering manufacture. Prominent amongst their findings was that, up to that time, ‘appraisal of investment in AMT on a short-term financial basis was not entirely adequate’ and that ‘the conventional approach to financial appraisal techniques, directed towards an early return on capital invested, may be inappropriate’. Today, over three years later, advanced manufacturing technology is more widely recognised and is providing a proven solution to survival and growth for manufacturers. However, many medium-and small-size companies are still finding great difficulty in the evaluation and justification of investment in this vital area. The Institution of Production Engineers therefore set up a special joint working party with The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants to follow up the ACARD report, with the objective of examining the whole area of the justification of investment in advanced manufacturing technology.