A design approach to user customized information systems

Complex information systems such as plant or corporation manufacturing information systems, serve a wide range of users and manufacturing areas. These systems are often characterized by the requirement to provide user options in order to maintain the integrity of local procedures. Although there may be a strong effort at standardization throughout the system, the fact remains that the system must serve different levels of manufacturing, from components to end product, and must interface with a variety of personnel, from manufacturing line operator to management. Although a system such as this is normally required to fulfill a general set of needs, the system design cannot ignore local requirements. The end result can be a system consisting of numerous programs, many serving similar functions but each containing some distinctive feature.