The hardest data for managers and engineers in charge of the design and implementation of robot systems to acquire is also the most valuable: case studies detailing best current practice and the return on investment actually achieved. It has been a major goal of the British Robot Association, among other professional groups, to organise meetings where such case studies are presented and discussed between members; but the obvious restrictions of commercial confidentiality lead to considerable difficulty, especially in relation to the best recent installations. The authors of this book have been in the uniquely privileged position of lecturing in the Cambridge University Production Engineering Tripos, a course specially organised in conjunction with a number of leading companies applying robots and automation. Actual case studies from these companies form an important part of the course, making this book that has emerged from it a uniquely important addition to our Open University Press series.