4.3 Information Technology IT and businesses Information technology (IT) benefits the business world by allowing organisations to work more efficiently and to maximise productivity. It involves computer applications which concern the production of goods, the organisation of office work, and the provision of services. IT and production IT can improve the production of goods and services thanks to the following systems and applications: Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), an accurate and faster system of production in which the computer controls the machinery and contributes to the reduction of labour costs; to concern: riguardare handheld: portatile provision: fornitura to sort out: organizzare valuable: di valore Computer Integrated Machinery (CIM), a system in which the computer controls the whole production line with the use of robots to perform routines or dangerous tasks; Computer Aided Design (CAD), application software used to generate models and 3D drawings which reduce the need to produce physical models, or prototypes, to test certain conditions. IT and office work In the office, IT supports: Communication, which is more effective, faster and cheaper thanks to emails, video conferences or internal chat rooms; Data editing: a word processor can be used to write, edit and save texts, a spreadsheet for mathematical calculations or to produce graphs, a database to store information about customers and suppliers, or a dedicated program to manage accounts and produce financial reports; Data analysis: computers help to find and analyse information such as current trends, data on human resources, information about competitors, etc.; Data storage and protection: IT offers electronic storage systems to protect all the company s valuable records. Data is kept safe by only allowing certain users within the company to access the documents, and much of the physical storage can be eliminated reducing the size of the office; Remote work: IT systems make it possible to allow people to work from home or while they are travelling to a client s location. IT services As regards the provision of services, IT may offer: handheld computers and tablets for various uses; different coding systems to identify and locate goods such as bar codes, radio frequency identification (RFID) or QR codes. 308