Demand power: market competition, resource utilization, reducing labor intensity, improving product quality and meeting the needs of mass production. Main features: This stage is mainly a single-machine automation stage. The main features are: the emergence of various single-machine automation processing equipment, and the continuous expansion and in-depth development of applications. Typical achievements and products: CNC machine tools with hardware CNC system. From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s

Demand power: The intensified market competition requires fast product update and high quality, which can meet the needs of large and medium-sized mass production and reduce labor intensity. Main features: This stage is mainly marked by automated production lines. Its main features are: on the basis of single machine automation, various combined machine tools and combined production lines appear, at the same time, software numerical control systems appear and are used in machine tools, and CAD, CAM and other software are used in the design and manufacture of practical projects. At present, hardware processing equipment is suitable for large and medium-sized production and processing. Typical achievements and products: automatic production line for drilling, boring and milling. Mid-1970s to present

Demand power: The change of market environment makes the common problems in multi-variety, small and medium-sized batch production more and more serious, which requires the development of automation technology in breadth and depth, so that its related technologies are highly integrated and give full play to the overall best efficiency. Main features: Since American scholars first put forward the concept of CIM in the early 1970s, great changes have taken place in the field of automation. Its main features are: CIM, as a philosophy and method, has been gradually accepted; CIM is also the corresponding technology to realize integration, which integrates decentralized and independent unit automation technology into an optimized whole. The so-called philosophy is that enterprises should analyze and overcome the existing "bottlenecks" according to their own needs, so as to realize the ideological strategy of continuously improving their own strength and competitiveness; As the corresponding technology to realize integration, it is generally considered as: data collection, distribution and * * * sharing; Network and communication; Workshop equipment controller; Specifications and standards of computer hardware and software, etc. At the same time, concurrent engineering, as a management concept and working mode, has been applied and active in the field of automation technology since the late 1980s, and will further promote the integration of unit automation technology. Typical achievements and products: CIMS factory, flexible manufacturing system (FMS).