Business for the VAX line has been growing so fast in Japan that Nippon DEC is to assemble the machines for the first time, and is introducing some of the artificial intelligence applications that are already in use at its other plants around the world. The VAX supermini assembly plant in Gyotoku, Chiba, just outside Tokyo, will start operation this summer. The three expert systems to be installed are ISA, which decides what is to be produced at which of the worldwide DEC plants; IROG, which determines what product to produce on which production line in the plant; and Matcher, designed to match orphan products from cancelled orders with the most appropriate new order. Nippon DEC will customise the packages and add Japanese language processing, probably using its X-IN – Extended Input Support – Japanese language front-end.
