1b. The Impact of Technology on Production

What are businesses trying to balance during production?

Cost with:

• Improvements to productivity

• Improvements in quality

• The ability to gain more flexibility in production

What is flexibility in production?

How easy it is to install machinery and switch to different machinery which is required to manufacture different products (known as retooling)

How is new technology revolutionizing flexibility in production?

New technology, such as the increased use of 3D printers, is revolutionizing flexibility in production by allowing for more customization and faster prototyping (creating an early model of a product to test and improve its design before production)

What is the role of 3D printers in production?

3D printers use digital designs to produce products with minimal labour costs. They can print various items such as car engines, houses, and food

What is the impact of new technology, like 3D printing, on production costs?

• Traditional manufacturing processes require expensive tooling and machinery, which can be a significant upfront cost for small businesses.

• With 3D printing, the cost of manufacturing is reduced as there is no need for expensive tooling

What is the impact of new technology, like 3D printing, on production productivity?

• With traditional manufacturing, there are often long lead times (amount of time that passes between a product being ordered and when its manufacture is complete) for tooling and set-up, which can delay the production process 

• With 3D printing, products can be produced quickly and easily, with minimal lead times 

• This allows businesses to bring new products to market faster and respond more quickly to changing customer preferences

What is the impact of new technology, like 3D printing, on production quality?

• Traditional manufacturing may find it difficult to produce complex or intricate designs resulting in variable quality 

• 3D printing allows for precise and accurate production of complex shapes and designs, resulting in higher quality products

What is the impact of new technology, like 3D printing, on production flexibility?

• With 3D printing products can easily be customised to meet the specific needs of customers 

• 3D printing allows for small production runs which reduces the costs of a specific job production