Studied by 11 people
3 scales of production
one-off - producing a single product
batch - made in a specific quantity
mass/continuous - made in large quantities usually 24/7, are in high demand
advantages of one-off production
unique product
answers exact customer needs and wants
disadvantages of one-off production
highly skilled workers required
individually designed so more expensive
company needs to be flexible to adapt to jobs
examples of one-off products
clothing for certain celebs
personalised/custom sneakers
advantages of batch production
end product will be cheaper to sell than process of production
good for when an item goes out of fashion or sells poorly
disadvantages of batch production
expensive to set up production lines and equipment
production line needs to be flexible
initial set up can be expensive
examples of batch products
limited edition products
electronic products
advantages of mass/continuous production
products usually are simplistic and don’t require too many components to assemble
end product is usually cheap
labour costs are cheap, not many skilled workers required
disadvantages of mass/continuous production
initial set up is very expensive
quality control issues need to be in place
examples of mass/continuous production
food products
JIT manufacturing
just in time, sometimes known as LEAN manufacturing
aims to reduce flow times within production system and response times from suppliers and to customers
focuses on efficient use of time and storing small amounts of stock/components
no warehouse or storage
advantages of JIT manufacturing
reduces waste
no warehouse thus lower costs
reduces time
disadvantages of JIT manufacturing
very sensitive to any type of error
will not be able to adapt to sudden increase in demand
examples of JIT manufacturing
car manufacturers
modular/cell production
horse-shoe shaped
involves a team of workers to finish a product
workers can move around, makes them more skilled, less monotonous
different cells for different parts of product
quality assurance
ensuring issues don’t happen before production
e.g. using trained staff, high quality tools
quality control
ensuring issues don’t happen during production
e.g. checking product over production
