  The research area "Virtual Manufacturing" can be defined as an integrated
manufacturing environment which can enhance one or several levels of decision
and control in manufacturing process. Several domains can be addressed: Product
and Process Design, Process and Production Planning, Machine Tool, Robot and
Manufacturing System. As automation technologies such as CAD/CAM have
substantially shortened the time required to design products, Virtual
Manufacturing will have a similar effect on the manufacturing phase thanks to
the modelling, simulation and optimisation of the product and the processes
involved in its fabrication.
