Our customer is the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), a not-for-profit collaborative research consortium located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. NCMS is composed of approximately 200 corporations and is committed to making North American manufacturing globally competitive through the development and implementation of next-generation manufacturing technologies.

Its Manufacturing Information Resource Center (MIRC) has a physical collection of books, reports, videotapes, and other materials, and an online collection of current and historical information to support the membership and activities of the consortium. The MIRC also provides personal research services for NCMS members.

The MIRC currently offers its online resources through a conventional bulletin board system with gateways to a document search/retrieval system, electronic mail, and some Internet resources. The current system has a character-oriented user interface and is available to members via dial-up modems and telnet.

In mid-1994, Enterprise Integration Technologies (EIT) began work on constructing a WWW-based information system to replace the MIRC's current online service. The resulting system will become available for use in the fourth quarter of 1994.