Introduction: Variety, Complexity, Integration. The Role of Structural Materials in the Transition to a New Information-rich Production System

Since they demarcate the shape of industrial objects and are located exactly at the point of interaction between industry and its environment, structural materials play a major part in reorganizing production processes. In many respects, upheavals in production processes as a result of the new fabrication methods for materials foreshadow transformations of at least equal importance to those arising from the use of information technologies. Moreover, it is plain that simultaneous mastery of the evolution of structural materials and information technologies respectively is the sole means of managing effectively the transition from an old industrial order founded on standardization to a new one founded on variety.