1.6 Modern and industrial scales of production Flashcards
1
Q
What is scale of production defined as?
A
The consideration of the number of products to be made, using particular manufacturing methods to suit a particular market.
2
Q
What is batch production defined as?
A
the manufacture of groups of products to increase efficiency and economy.
3
Q
What is division of labour?
A
the efficient organisation of workforce so that individuals specialise in particular manufacturing tasks
4
Q
What is line production?
A
the manufacture of large numbers of products in factories set up so that processes can be efficiently carried out by workers and/or teams organised in a specific sequence
5
Q
What is mass production?
A
the manufacture of large numbers of products in factories that are usually highly mechanised
6
Q
What does UPS stand for?
A
Unit Production Systems
7
Q
What are UPS?
A
The use of overhead transporters for component transfer between workers to improve factory efficiency
8
Q
What does QRM stand for?
A
quick response manufacturing
9
Q
What is QRM?
A
the use of mainly computer-based technology to facilitate efficient, competitive production of low-volume, customised products
10
Q
What is vertical integration/ vertical in-house production?
A
the organisation of manufacture to reduce dependence on externally-sourced parts and sub-assemblies
11
Q
What are sub-assemblies?
A
pre-made elements of a product
12
Q
What is the lead time?
A
the amount of time taken to respond to orders for a part of a product
13
Q
When do you use bespoke production?
A
when a product is required for a unique situation and needs to be individually designed and manufactured
14
Q
Is bespoke production cheap or expensive?
A
expensive
15
Q
Why is bespoke production likely to be more difficult to produce on a large scale?
A
- individual client consultation and design work is required
- more skilled workers are likely to be required for manufacturing
- each manufacturing process must be set up individually for each of the unique components
- greater time is required for manufacturing
- there will be no economics of scale for materials like there would be with large-scale production
16
Q
What are some examples of bespoke products?
A
luxury custom-made yacht
a chair for a child with a serious disability
a personalised wedding cake
17
Q
What is batch production?
A
when the manufacturing processes are carried out simultaneously on a number of products
18
Q
What are the advantages of batch production compared to bespoke?
A
more efficient
more accurate
more cost effective
19
Q
What are some examples of products that have gone through batch production?
A
pottery
wooden furniture
jet engines
20
Q
What makes mass/line production different to the others?
A
it uses the division of labour to increase speed and efficiency
21
Q
How does the manufacturing work in mass/line production?
A
the manufacturing is automates to maximise efficiency
22
Q
What are some examples of products that have gone through mass/line production?
A
cars
clothing
mobile phones
cameras
23
Q
When are unit production systems used a lot?
A
the manufacture of textile products
24
Q
Unit production systems are based on what principle?
A
they are based on the principle of using an overhead transporter system (incorporating appropriate hanging carriers) to convey the components that are required for the manufacture of garment between workstations
25
Are unit production systems controlled manually or by computers?
both but computers are favoured
26
What are two advantages of unit production systems?
reduces the number of handling operations
facilitates the optimal use of labour and equipment
27
What is a slight disadvantage of unit production systems?
requires careful organisation and synchronisation to ensure efficiency
28
Why is Quick Response Manufacturing used ?
To reduce the lead time
29
What quick response manufacturing?
A strategy for drastically reducing the time between a product being a concept and being completed
30
What are the main priorities of quick response manufacturing?
The needs of the customer are given high priority throughout the reign and production process, with the quality still being important
31
What is vertical in-house production also known as ?
Vertical integration
32
What is vertical in-house production?
An arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is owned by that company
33
How does vertical in-house production work ?
Companies that manufacture relatively complex products need to decide to what extent they will use external suppliers for parts or sub-systems that incorporated in their products (often referred to as outsourcing)
34
When using vertical in-house production, what does this mean for the manufacture?
The manufacturing is set up in such a way that they minimise the need for external suppliers and organise their factories to include the facilities required to manufacture what is required
35
What are the advantages of vertical in-house production ?
Reduction in the risk of unexpected price increases for components
Less susceptibility to suppliers going out of business
Protection of their brand and improved security of intellectual property rights (IPR)
Easier implementation of quality assurance (QA) strategies
36
What are the disadvantages of vertical in-house production?
Reduction in specialisation, potentially leading to dilution of expertise
Increase in administration
Reduction in flexibility
37
What is JiT?
Just in time production
38
What is the definition of JiT?
The manufacture of products as needed, in response to existing orders
39
How is cost linked to product quality ?
Low cost is link to product quality as cheaper products are more likely to suffer from premature failure
40
Why is the amount of the material used for a product important ?
It can have knock-on effects in terms of the product’s durability, weight and bending strength
41
When setting out to design and manufacture a product, why may it be simple to choose what material to use?
The material required may have specifications for the part that preclude other options
42
What advantages do bulk production lines have over one-off or batch production lines?
Large manufacturers will be in a much stronger position to negotiate bulk purchasing discounts, unlike smaller manufacturers making one-off or small batch products that do not warrant large orders of materials
43
Why do professional woodworkers use nesting?
It avoids wastage and additional machining
44
Why are many mass-produced children’s toys now made by rotational or blow moulding?
It results in a hollow structure that keeps the amount of material used to a minimum. This also ensures that the overall product is strong, due to the coherent, one piece moulding
45
Why are injection moulded hollow toys not so common ?
Injection moulded hollow toys need to be made of at least two parts, which would require additional welding, integral, mechanical, or adhesive joining methods, as well as more expensive moulds
46
Why do furniture designers often make use of lightweight frames and suspended seats?
To capitalise on the elasticity of materials to provide comfort, rather than traditional upholstery methods which require the use of several materials that must be combined using labour-intensive methods
47
The movement towards economy of materials was pioneered by who?
Bauhaus as their designers made widespread use of tubular low carbon steel
48
Why are glass bottles becoming thinner ?
Advances in technology in blow-moulding
They are over 30% lighter, which makes a big difference to the costs of the materials, the energy costs and the environmental effects
49
Why must components for products be uniform and accurate?
To perform their functions properly and integrate seamlessly with other elements of the product
50
What is an example of a product that needs very accurately made complements in order to function properly?
PET and glass for drinks bottle must be accurately made in terms of material thickness, as this will affect their capacity, and the precision of the screw opening must to be made to very strict tolerances, since this will impact if the seal of the bottle top.
51
How do you ensure the accuracy of manufacturing in large-scale production ?
Automation machinery is used, since it would be far too expensive and time consuming to rely solely on human input.
52
Compare bulk and one-off production.
BULK
Whether at line, mass or batch level, it makes it viable to use automated manufacturing technique
Materials can be bought more cheaply in larger quantities
ONE-OFF
The bespoke design and manufacture of single products in accordance with individual specifications, often requiring a high proportion of manual labour and skill.
High costs of products
53
What does FMS stand for ?
Flexible manufacturing systems
54
What are flexible manufacturing systems ?
Production using work cell of CNC machines and robots that can be used to make a wide range of different products, typically one-off bespoke items of in small batches
55
What is modular/cell production ?
The use of groups of CNC machines, robots and AGVs to facilitate efficient, flexible manufacturing
56
What are standardised components ?
Part such as screws and light bulbs that are made to a common standard to ensure interchangeability
57
What are bought-in components ?
Product parts that are sourced from external suppliers rather than being manufactured in-house
58
What is sub-assembly?
A self-contained element of a product that is made separately and incorporated in the final assembly stages
59
When are mathematical calculations necessary in computer systems for planning and control?
Sophisticated planning and control software use mathematical calculations to plan the schedules necessary to organise a complex manufacturing facility such as a car park
60
Why are barcodes and radio frequency identification (RFI) tags used?
To facilitate the transfer of information relating to components and stock to and from computer systems
61
In modular production, why are computer controller manufacturing cells used?
To set up to combine a number of CNC machines in a group, known as a CNC module or cell
62
In modular production, CNC modules are programmed to do what?
Carry out a sequence of operations on a number of CNC machines, such as lathes, milling machines, drills and grinders
63
What is used when longer distances are involved when moving materials in modular production ?
Automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) are used
64
In modular production, how would a CNC cell operate?
1. Low carbon steel stock is delivered to the cell by AGV and loaded by robot into the chuck of the first machine
2. The part is turned (CNC lathe).
3. A robot transfers the part to the next machine.
4. Grooves and flats are machined (CNC milling machines).
5. A perfectly smooth finish is achieved by grinding (CNC grinder).
6. The finished part is removed by robot and is ready for transfer for AGV to another cell or assembly facility.
65
What is the method of JiT production ?
The method of organising the manufacture of products in such a way that they are made to order rather than being produced in the hope of them being sold at some point in the future.
66
Why is JiT particularly successful?
Due to the adoption of steps to reduce waste, continuously monitoring and improving their methods of manufacture and using techniques to reduce errors on the production line so that products are ‘right first time’.
67
What is an alternative term used instead of JiT?
Lean production is often referred to in this context as it also conveys the idea of reducing waste and maintaining stock levels at the minimum possible.
68
When is JiT particularly appropriate to use ?
For products that can be bought in multiple configurations (such as vehicles and computers) but can also be seen in action in fast food restaurants, where customers expect their meals to be freshly prepared rather than containing ingredients that have been pre-cooked earlier in the day.
69
Why is stockpiling of products problematic?
New models with updated and improved features will quickly make older devices obsolete and result in stock that in difficult to sell.
70
What are some strategies that are used to implement JiT in manufacturing?
Increased consultation, discussion and co-operation between management and workers.
Regular feedback meetings to ensure continuous improvement.
Careful selection of suppliers, often in relatively close proximity to the factory where assembly takes place.
Reduction of waste and stock (Muda).
Optimisation of the configuration and layout of machinery.
Stock labelling systems, which give instant visual and/or electronic indication of current levels and reordering requirements (Kanban).
71
What is a disadvantage of JiT?
Dependence on reliable suppliers and transport infrastructure
72
Describe the process of JiT of a car?
A customer uses the manufacturer’s interactive car configuration website to select all appropriate options for the vehicle they require.
The information is digitally transferred to car manufacturer’s planning and control software that generates the order, organises the necessary parts and places the manufacturing process in an available time slot.
The lead-time that is generated by the software will enable the dealer to give the customer an anticipated delivery date, which may be longer if the car is being assembled abroad or if there are any issues with the supply of parts.
Manufacture of the vehicle commences, with an RFID tag being used an electronic Kanban to ensure that the correct parts are available and appropriately assembled as the vehicle proceeds along the assembly line.
Once completed, the car can be delivered to the customer’s local dealer on a transports that has been loaded in accordance with the computer software’s optimum schedule for economical delivery.
73
What is mass customisation?
When manufacturing products such as vehicles can results in potentially millions of different option combinations
74
What does QRM do?
Makes extensive use of CAD and rapid prototyping with 3D printers in the product development stage, and flexible manufacturing cells and multi-skilled workers in product manufacture
75
What strategies does QRM incorporate?
JiT
Six sigma
Totally quality management (TQM)
76
When is quick response manufacturing particularly appropriate ?
For companies that produce relatively low volumes of products that incorporate elements of customisation
77
Why QRM appropriate for packaging food ?
These machines have been to be designed and built to carry out a particular sequence of operations for the goods they are packaging, therefore customised requirements have to be accommodated.
The use of QRM facilitates rapid generation of design proposals and prototypes as well as smooth, fast transition into the manufacturing stage.
Customers can take delivery of their machines more quickly than would otherwise have been possible.
78
What does FMS often use to facilitate easy transfer of production from one part of production to another? Why?
Modular / cell production because it makes it possible to respond quickly to changes in demand, so factories can switch production to accommodate this.
79
What is the purpose of SMED?
The adoption of single minute exchange dies (SMED) facilitates changing dies in a press or moulding machine very quickly in response to demand for a different part.
80
What are the advantages of SMED?
Results in reduced idle periods known as downtime for the machine.
Offers financial advantages since keeping expensive machines like this in operation for the maximum time possible is key to making the machine run efficiently.
81
What are some example of situation where quick changeovers are important?
Blow moulding
Injection moulding
82
What do JiT systems rely on to facilitate an efficient flow of parts for the production line?
The stock parts (inventory) being monitors using barcodes and RFID
83
Storage, distribution and sales of production are monitors by what ?
Computer systems
84
What does EPOS stand for?
Electronic point of sale
85
How do computers have a major impact regarding software in storage, distribution and sales of production?
They plan optimum loading patterns for freight containers and electronic point of sale systems that are used to record sales of products and feed this information through to warehouses for restocking purposes
86
What does it mean by computer integrated manufacture?
Used to describe the use of computer systems to control all the stages of bringing a product to market from design, through manufacture to distribution.
87
What are the advantages of having arrangements with no manual handling?
It makes is possible to use space a more efficiently and facilitates round-the-clock operation
88
What is the advantages of standardised components ?
The adoption of universal standards makes us possible for product designers and manufacturers to specify third party bought-in components for their products
89
What are some example of standardised components ?
Tyres
Plumbing fittings
Door locks
Batteries
90
When are bought-in products used?
Where it would not be practical or economical to manufacturer those components, often due to their specialist nature and/or the high numbers involved.
91
Why do suppliers of components and sub-assemblies make CAD files of their products available in standard formats?
So that manufacturers can more easily integrate them into their designs and therefore improve sales of their components
92
By using bought-in components, how do companies make profit ?
The components can be bought in bulk, which reduces the unit cost.
They do not have to set up their own manufacturing facility, reducing the need for specialist equipment and expertise, which can be very expensive.
There will be a greater level of consistency in the components.
Time will be saved.
93
What is the accreditation of ISO 9001?
An internationally recognised quality management systems that ensures the required consistency of goods
94
When standards used by manufacturers change, why can it cause major problems ?
It can sometimes make the products obsolete.
95
Why is it necessary to make changes to standards for some manufacturers ?
The ensure the company stays competitive and it is in this situation that brand loyalty is paramount.
96
Why is it uneconomical for companies to make most of the sub-assemblies for a product?
A great deal of specialist knowledge and high levels of investment would be required.
97
What is an advantages of making all of the sub-assemblies in the same factory?
It simplifies and speeds up the manufacturing process.
