of their customers. Automation Works integrates equipment from different manufacturers and coordinates the operation of each component using skills in process control, automatic identification, database design and data communications. The core of each system is a data base which stores the information used to control the processes and record operational events, statuses and statistics. Each element of the system accesses the data base and communicates interactively with other elements or with host computer systems using serial communications, local area networks, and wide area networks. The information stored in the data base becomes an integral part of the management of the material handling processes.

They utilize a "building block" approach to system development. A process management system tailored specifically to the customers requirements is built using a set of standard software components, high-level structures and proven techniques. Their experience has shown that each company and its applications are sufficiently different, both in the nature of its business and in the choice of areas to auto that it is generally impractical to distribute "packaged" software. Instead, their emphasis has been on developing tools that allow us to create and customize stable and sophisticated systems, easily and economically.