Unit 3.1: Production processes

production management

process of managing the acitivities of a business to furnish desired outputs of products and services

production

transformation process that changes resources into goods and services

job production

when individual products are made one at a time to meet specific customer preferences

flow production

using a production line to make goods continuously and in large numbers

specialisation

when a business or individual focuses on producing a limited range of products or services or a specific part of the production process

lean production

continually working to reduce the resources used to create products

Just-in-time (JIT)

organising the ordering of raw materials and components to be delivered just before they will be used, reducing the need for storage

Kaizen

a Japanese approach that focuses on consistently making small, incremental improvements to a business process or product to achieve better results, involving all employees

advantages of job production

• tailored to customer’s preferences

  • gives business unique selling point

• high-quality

  • made by fine raw materials, specialists and skilled staff

• workers are creative and motivated so efficient

• high prices for quality product so could increase revenue

disadvantages of job production

• takes a long time

• costs are relatively high

• staff will demand higher wages and need to be trained more regularly

• raw materials are expensive

• not all customers can afford high prices

  • so customer base is small = limits revenues

• process is labour intensive

  • leads to long delivery times

advantages of flow production

• large no. of identical product being mass produced

• specialised at what they do since they only have one task

• cost of producing each item (unit cost) is low since few workers needed

• production line can be kept going for 24 hours a day without stopping for rest breaks which increases output

disadvantages of flow production

• when one messes up, affects the rest of production line

  • workers may lost motivation since job is repetitvie

  • reduces efficiency and increase costs

  • could lead to high labour turnover and gap in workforce

• difficult to differentiate final product which affects market share

• initial capital outlay is very high so start-up costs are high

• running machines continuously can lead to them breaking down

overproduction

• producing goods before cutomers demand them

  • leads to high storage costs and possible damage to goods waiting to be sold

waiting

whenever goods are not moving on to the next stage of production

How can transporting lead to wastage?

too much handling can cause damage

unnecessary inventory

having too much stock takes up space and gets in the way of productive activity

How can motion lead to wastage?

• employees involved in unnecessary bending, stretching and other body movements wastes time

  • also a health and safety risk

How can over-processing lead to wastage?

using complex equipment to carry out simple tasks can be wasteful

How can defects lead to wastage?

products that are poorly made have to be rejected, and time is wasted on inspecting for faults