EFFORTS ARE UNDERWAY TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE WAY INTEGRATION IS ACHIEVED IN MANUFACTURING. THIS INVOLVES INTEGRATION AT THE HARDWARE LEVEL (CNCS, DNCS, AGVS, ROBOTS, ETC.). CAD/ROBOTICS CAN BE LOOKED UPON AS THE INTEGRATION OF TWO KEY FIELDS: CAD AND ROBOTICS. IT IS OFTEN CONSIDERED AS AN OFFSHOOT OF CAD AND CAM. ONLY RECENTLY, COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS WERE MADE AVAILABLE IN THE CAD/ROBOTICS AREA WHICH ADDRESS SUCH ISSUES AS ROBOT PATH PROGRAMMING, SIMULATION OF ROBOT WORKCELL, ROBOT ECONOMICS AND KINEMATICS, AND DYNAMICS OF INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS. CAD/ROBOTICS CAN BE CONSIDERED A NEXT LOGICAL STEP IN ACHIEVING PARTIAL INTEGRATION IN THE OVERALL CIM PLAN.