THIS PAPER DISCUSSES THE EMERGENCE OF STANDARDS-BASED, MULTI-VENDOR INFORMATION SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES, THEIR ROLE WITHIN THE MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISE, THEIR CLIENT/SERVER SERVICES, AND HOW 802.3/ETHERNET NETWORKS PROVIDE THE FOUNDATION. 802.3/ETHERNET NETWORK PERFORMANCE FORMULAS ARE PROVIDED FOR TWO CLIENT/SERVER SERVICES: THE X WINDOW SYSTEM AND DISTRIBUTED TIME SERVICES. THROUGH CASE EXAMPLES, MANUFACTURING BUSINESS GOALS ARE ACHIEVED THROUGH THE USE OF PLANT-WIDE 802.3/ETHERNET NETWORKS, INTEGRATED COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND PARALLEL WORK METHODS SUCH AS CONCURRENT ENGINEERING.