화학공학소재연구정보센터
Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.26, No.8, 828-832, 2003
Plant-wide integration of information and decision support systems: Present tools and limitations
Information accessibility has changed the way that chemical process plants are being managed. The traditional pyramidal hierarchy that is usually the core of any management structure is being threatened by the potential of centralized decision-making covering more and more possibilities. But although present tools may have access to any significant piece of objective information, and can process it at growing speeds, they are still termed as "decision support" systems. Sensible decision-making is not only the result of knowledge plus information; it is also important to consider the effects of the different factors that are usually embraced by the term "human factors", probably because they are difficult to comprehend and include in a mathematical model. Current research in these areas, usually related to human and/or artificial intelligence, may provide significant advances in the near future.