The International PROLAMAT Conference is an internationally well known event for demonstrating and evaluating activities and progress in the field of discrete manufacturing. Sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), the PROLAMAT is traditionally held every three years and it includes the whole area of advanced software technology for Design and Manufacturing in Discrete Manufacturing. Past editions of the International PROLAMA T Conference have explored: -Manufacturing Technology, -Advances in CAD/CAM, -Software for Discrete Manufacturing, -Software for Manufacturing. The Eight International PROLAMAT held in 1992 (Tokyo), focused on the theme of Man in CIM. The 1995 PROLAMAT (Berlin), featured the theme of Life Cycle Modelling for Innovative Products and Processes. This past emphasis on human aspects and innovation provides a strong foundation for the next PROLAMAT. Under the title: The globalization of manufacturing in the digital communications era of the 21th century: innovation, agility and the virtual enterprise, the 1998 conference expands the PROLAMAT scope to include teams and virtual enterprises which come together across space and time to develop new products and bring them to global markets. Manufacturing issues and information models have long been part of concurrent engineering; they are increasingly important in new product innovation and in the development of manufacturing plans and processes which span multiple companies along with multiple time zones.

Preface. Track 1: Sharing Experiences from Telecommunication Use in Industry for Agility and Innovation. Case Studies and Descriptions of Experience with Emerging Technologies. Concurrent Product Development and Enterprise Integration. Distributed Engineering Environment. Access to Engineering Data. Integration of Emerging Technologies and Tools into Existing Product Development. Track 2: Human and Machine Communication, Modelling, Standard Representations. Reuse. Data Sharing Standards and Quality Engineering. Knowledge Management for Product Design. Formal Design Theories and Methodologies in Manufacturing. Modelling and Organising Knowledge for Manufacturing. Modelling Production and Organisation. Virtual Environments for Manufacturing, Design and Training. Collaborative Product Development and Design. Track 3: Telecommunication and Agility Impact on Software Technology for Discrete Manufacturing. Virtual Prototyping Issues in Distributed Manufacturing. Rapid Prototyping and Reverse Engineering. Smart Agents Methodologies and Application in Manufacturing. Automated Machining Operations. Product/Process Modelling, Planning and Scheduling. Virtual Enterprise and Distributed Manufacturing Processes. Systems Relating to Sustainable Manufacturing and Technologies for Supporting Product Life Cycle. DSS for Design and Integrated Manufacturing.