text: o Soft product variety - small differences between products, e.g., between car models made on the same
  o Hard product variety - products differ substantially, e.g., between a small car and a large truck, with few
  A manufacturing plant consists of processes and systems (and people, of course) designed to transform a certain
  o The three building blocks - materials, processes, and systems - are the subject of modern manufacturing
  Given a plant with a certain set of processes, there are size and weight limitations on the parts or products that can
  o Production, material handling equipment, and plant size must be planned for products that lie within a
  Defined as the maximum quantity that a plant can produce in a given time period (e.g., month or year) under
  o Operating conditions refer to number of shifts per week, hours per shift, direct labor manning levels in the
  o Usually measured in terms of output units, such as tons of steel or number of cars produced by the plant
  
  KurzweilAI.net published the article Considering Military and Ethical Implications of Nanofactory Level Nanotechnology by Brian Wang which said
  Nanofactory-level nanotechnology could make current weapons systems obsolete and make genocide and super-oppression easier. So the economic bounty from nanotechnology should be used to reduce motivations for conflict…
  The development of a nanofactory seems to be between five and fifteen years in the future. If there is a secret nanofactory development program, then nanofactories might be produced at an earlier date. The impact of an introduction of nanofactory capabilities will be considered for the 2011 to 2025 timeframe. Artificial intelligence with human or better performance across a broad range of functions could in theory speed development of nanotechnology, but this is assumed to come after the nanofactory, because it is assumed that nanofactory level technology likely would be needed to successfully reverse engineer the human brain.
  Brian L. Wang, M.B.A. is a long time futurist, who has been involved with nanotechnology associations since 1994. He is now a member of the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) Task Force, and is moderating the technology sub-task force. He is also on the Nanoethics Group Advisory Board.