In 1987, Midlands Technical College (MTC), in Columbia, South Carolina, initiated a Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) project, the Midlands Teaching Factory, LTD, which integrated various college departments with the goal of manufacturing a high quality, saleable product. The faculty developed a teaching factory model which was designed to produce products made of metal and plastic utilizing industrial grade production equipment, and computer hardware, software, and networks. The business department was placed in charge of the management of the facility, transmitting orders received throughout the network to other departments, which then ensured that all of the necessary elements came together on the shop floor. All related problems had to be solved by the faculty, staff, and students, which meant that students had to be very familiar with most parts of production. As of January 1992, the plant had begun to integrate all areas of manufacturing; the central database and the islands of manufacturing had been established, and the facility's first product, an insulated plastic drinking cup for hot or cold beverages with a machined coaster had been selected. The CIM environment emphasizes connectivity and working across platforms, utilizing IBM PC's, DEC 3100's, VAX 3100's, IBM clones, Macintosh computers, and Sun computers. The University of South Carolina, Clemson University, and MTC cooperate in computer-aided modeling, and other cooperative applications involving the CIM facility are being planned. The shop floor layout, network configuration, and software layout are attached. (MAB)