Industrial practice Flashcards
What is mass production?
Hundreds of identical products are made on a production line
Could be the assembly of many parts e.g cars
Robots can be used in the manufacturing process
What is continuous production?
Manufacturing is usually 24 hours a day and 7 days a week
Maximises productivity
Only large quantites of identcal products like cans or steel
Highly automated with little to no human involvement
What sort of products can be continuously manufactured?
Simplistic for production speed
High demand
Advantages of continous production?
End product is cheaper
less labour is needed / low skilled
Disadvantages of continous production?
Initial setup of automation is costly
Quality control is needed at the end
What is batch production?
Product is made in specific batches of a specific quantities
Large products like planes are in small batches
Small products like baked beans in large batches
Clothing or seasonal products would also suit this production
Advantages of batch production?
A good method to trial products or products with volatile sales numbers
Design can be changed between batches to suit demands
Disadvantages of batch production?
Company needs to be flexible to different types of batch
Initialy expensive to set up production line with jigs ect..
Products are more expensive to buy
What is unit or one-off production?
Where products are made on at a time
Products can all be different so it is very labour intensive
Combination of hand, machine and automated processes
Products include custom furniture, ships or bridges
Advantages of one-off production?
Products can be unique
Products could be made to exact measurements and standards or a coustomer breif
Disadvantages of one-off production?
High skilled workers are required
Induvidual design makes products more expensive
Company needs to be flexible to adapt to clients needs
Very expensive labour costs
How can labour be organised in a factory?
Assembly line production
Assembly cell production
Advantages of assembly line production?
Low level training and skill are required
Disadvantages of assembly line production?
Work can be boring and repetitive
No job satisfaction as the final product is not seen
Advantages of cell production?
The quality of the products can be higher because the cell feels responsible and can see problems better
Work is much less repetitive
Better job satisfaction as they see the product
