When designing production facilities, designers generally find that

automated machinery enables a high level of flexibility regarding product variety and sizes.

general$-$purpose machines require a more narrow range of skills than might be necessary for a special$-$purpose machine.

they have to choose between low$-$output specialized machinery and higher$-$output, general$-$purpose machines.

computer$-$integrated manufacturing $($CIM$)$ systems permit economic batch quantity to be reduced to one.