This paper presents and analyzes the results of a survey of 260 manufacturing firms in 10 states in Brazil. It describes its metodology and explores the relationships between firms's characteristics -strategic positioning, size, nature of production process, industry and region - and their automation pattern. It discusses trends and needs for the near-future and offers some remarks about the content of the tecnology adopted by the firms. It also speculates about the nature of the industry's modernization process.
Industrial Automation; Computer Integrated Manufacturing; Manufacturing Strategy