This book presents a new understanding on how control systems truly
operate, and explains how to recognize, simulate, and improve control
systems in all fields of activity. It also reveals the pervasive,
ubiquitous and indispensable role of control processes in our life and
the need to develop a "control-oriented thinking"--based on
uncomplicated but effective models derived from systems thinking--that
is, a true "discipline of control." Over the book's thirteen chapters,
Piero Mella shows that there are simple control systems (rather than
complex ones) that can easily help us to manage complexity without
drawing upon more sophisticated control systems.
It begins by reviewing the basic language of systems thinking and the
models it allows users to create. It then introduces the control
process, presenting the theoretical structure of three simple control
systems we all can observe in order to gain fundamental knowledge from
them about the basic structure of a control system. Then, it presents
the anatomy of the simplest "magic ring" and the general theoretical
model of any control system. This is followed by an introduction to a
general typology of control systems and a broader view of control
systems by investigating multi-lever control systems and multi-objective
systems.
The book undertakes the concepts through various environments,
increasingly broader in scope to suggest to readers how to recognize
therein control systems manifestations in everyday life and in natural
phenomena. Updated for the 2nd edition, new chapters explore control
systems regulating the biological environment and the organizations,
with an in-depth study of the control of quality, productivity,
production, stocks and costs. Finally, it concludes by dealing with the
learning process, problem-solving, and designing the logical structure
of control systems.
