Scale of production Flashcards
What is the scale of production impacts upon all design and manufacturing decisions?
- the number of products or units manufactured
- the choice of materials and components
- the manufacturing processes, speed of production and availability of machinery and labour
- production planning, the use of the just-in-tim (JIT) and stock control, including the use of information and communication technology (ICT) systems
- production costs, including the benefits of bulk-buying, the use of standard components and eventual retail price
What is the scale of production?
The scale of production is an important factor to be considered when developing any product. It has an impact upon all design and manufacturing designs.
Scale of production
Define one-off
One-off production is often referred to as job production and includes ‘tailor-made’ bespoke or customised solutions. A key feature of one-off production is a single often high-cost product that is manufactured to a clients specification. This kind of one-off product is often very high cost because a premium has to be paid for any unique features, more expensive or exclusive materials and time-consuming handcrafted production and finishing.
Scale of production
Define batch
Batch production involves the manufacture of identical products in specified, pre-determined ‘batches’, which can vary from tens to thousands. A key feature of batch production is flexibility of tooling, machinery and workforce to enable fast turnaround, so production can be quickly adapted to manufacture a different product, depending on demand. Batch production often makes use of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) to enable companies to be competitive and efficient. The use of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems involving automated machinery enables production ‘downtime’ to be kept to a minimum. Batch production results in lower unit cost than one-off production. Economics of scale in materials buying enables cost savings and identical batches of consistency high-quality products are manufactured at a competitive cost.
Scale of production
Batch production can be used in short-term print-runs
What are the 4 stages?
Preparation: pre-press
Processing/production
Assembly
Finishing
Scale of production
Batch production can be used in short-term print-runs
Preparation: pre-press
Processes
- colour separation of images into Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK)
- production of four printer negatives for making printing plates
- plate-making machines produces four colour printing plates (CMYK)
- quality control of printing plates and colour proofs
Scale of production
Batch production can be used in short-term print-runs
Processing/production
Processes
- full-colour printing process, e.g. Offset lithographic printing
- application of in-line surface finish, e.g. Lamination, spot varnishing, etc
- quality control using printers marks, I.e. Colour bars and registration
Scale of production
Batch production can be used in short-term print-runs
Assembly
Processes
- trimming pages to correct size on guillotine using crop marks
- double pages folded down spine
- pages collated and bound using saddle-wire stitching
- final quality-control check of finished product
Scale of production
Batch production can be used in short-term print-runs
Finishing
Processes
- collation of multiple brochures, packing into corrugated board boxes and sealing
- multiple boxes palletised and shrink-wrapped ready for distribution
Scale of production
Define mass
Mass production (or high-volume production) of most consumer products makes use of efficient automated manufacturing processes and a largely low-skilled workforce. However, this workforce is specialised and production is divided up in specific tasks with labour to match. Mass-produced products are designed to follow mass-market trends, so the product appeals to a wide national and international target market. Production planning and QC in production enables the manufacture of identical products. Production costs are kept as low as possible so the product will provide value for money.
Scale of production
Define continuous
Continuous production is used to manufacture standardised mass-produced products that meet everyday mass-market demand. The production of a blow-moulded fizzy drinks bottle, for example, necessitates 24-hour production, 7 days a week to satisfy consumer demands for soft drinks. This type of production is highly is highly automated and uses machines that can run continuously for long periods of time with breaks only for routine maintenance
Scale of production
One-off
Applications
Prototype and architectural models, ship signage, vinyl stickers for commercial vehicles, etc
Scale of production
One-off
Advantages
- made to exact personal specifications
- high-quality materials used
- highly skilled craftsperson
Scale of production
One-off
Advantages
- expensive final product in comparison to larger scales of production
- generally labour intensive and can be a relatively time-consuming process
Scale of production
Batch
Applications
Commercially printed materials, e.g. Magazines and newspapers
