THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF COMPUTER-INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING (CIM) RELATED GOALS IS HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON PROPER PLANNING STRATEGIES. THIS PAPER FOCUSES ON THE RELEVANCE OF TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE (TA) AS AN INTEGRAL STEP IN THE CIM PLANNING PROCESS. TA IS FIRST DEFINED WITHIN THE OVERALL CIM CONTEXT. NEXT, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A TA FOUNDATION IS EXPLAINED, INCLUDING CONSTRUCTION OF A TECHNICAL GLOSSARY INFORMATION BASE TO FACILITATE COMMON UNDERSTANDING DURING THE CIM PROJECT. FINALLY, A HYPOTHETICAL INDUSTRY EXAMPLE ILLUSTRATES THE DETERMINATION OF PROJECT RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS. TA IS A COMPLEX, YET VITAL INGREDIENT IN ANY CIM ENDEAVOR. COMMITMENT, ADEQUATE RESOURCES, AND ADHERENCE TO SOUND PLANNING METHODOLOGY WILL HELP ENSURE PROJECT SUCCESS.