In Japan information technology has been a vital part of manufacturing for decades. A central factory computer provides a production plan and shop minicomputers and microcomputers in the factory run machines that manufacture products. It has become necessary to connect computers installed at different locations to enable information exchange between different sections. This requires an intracompany network with large memory capacity and high-speed communication capability to process documents, drawings, and image data, as well as conventional code data: a local area network (LAN). This volume...