This fusion is best represented by the internet and, more specifically, the web. When it comes to computing, the data processing implications of IT have been around the longest and have been relatively well exploited - though least in the area of production. Data processing mainly replaces mental processes, and does them faster and more accurately than the human mind. Of course, the results are only as good as the quality of the data input, as, for example, the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade showed to grim effect. In the first area, computers eliminate time spent by companies on their own bookkeeping and accounting-type operations.
All economies here reduce waste and so boost productivity.
The trend for the manufacturing sector to contract out accounting functions, hence removing the accounts department headcount in one fell swoop, probably had more significance for boosting manufacturing productivity in the second half of the 1990s than computer technology itself. Computerised cash registers have resulted in economies in the retail sphere, both increasing the efficiency of sales staff and making possible the advances of supermarkets and warehouse-style retail units. Financial operations, too, have benefited from the spread of computers. Centralised ticketing operations for airlines has also been quite extensively exploited. Computers can also cut time and costs spent on the control, organisation and operation of the production process.