Think-Along Software proposes to demonstrate an application of its interactive scientific discovery system--the scholar's companion-- in the realm of manufacturing, as a computer system which is capable of performing some of the duties of a scientist looking to discover new and important ideas (e.g. Ford's production line) with potential value to users in the community of manufacturing scientists. This proposal is based on an awareness of an ever-increasing need to handle, study, and generalize a rapidly growing body of data resulting from virtually every human endeavor, an important example being years of empirical results of running day-to-day manufacturing operations. The intent of this project is to explore and test applications of a data exploration and theory formation system in the manufacturing domain.
