If all the different machines are to function as an integrated unit in a factory, there must be a standard of communication so that the machines can "talk" to each other. To achieve this objective, GM developed its own manufacturing automation protocol (MAP) and encouraged other machine tool producers to adopt it as an industrial standard (Port, 1986; "March of the," 1987). With MAP, different machines can communicate with each other and put under the supervision of a computer. An ordinary factory is then transformed into a flexible manufacturing system (FMS). However, GM's ultimate target is one step further than FMS. GM hoped that all these automation efforts could achieve computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). This stage is achieved when computers help to design a product, control the manufacturing machinery, and direct the transport of the product.