Recent developments in CAM and FMS require a computer-aided interface to connect product design and production planning to a manufacturing organisation which has been structured into mutually independent, cellular subsystems for flexible production. The paper provides some ideas and concepts for the planning, implementation and control of flexible production systems. These may be thought of as containing either flexible production cells or flexible manufacturing systems, A ‘flexible’ solution to the manufacturing organisation problem is a scheme in which the hospitality of cells towards product batches and the flexibility of jobs towards cells are maximised simultaneously. A changeover from FPCs to FMSs may constitute the ultimate goal of a modern organisation for manufacture.