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What are scales of production?
What are scales of production?
When manufacturers decide to make a product, they must decide upon how much of that product they want to make. This requires a good understanding of their target market, how much they want to sell, their method of manufacture and how much profit they wish to make.
Due to the complexities of the economic market an understanding of scales of production is necessary.
The four main scales of production are:
One-off production - single custom made product/prototype
Batch Production - Making a set quantity of products, then pausing until the next batch.
Mass production - Making a large volume of identical products but not necessarily continually.
Continuous production - Making very high volume, continuously 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
One-Off Production
One-Off Production
One-off products are usually custom-made, one-of-a-kind products manufactured for a single purpose or outcome. They often require a large investment in terms of time and effort. Usually they do not require jigs or moulds as these are normally made to make it easier to repeat a pattern or shape more easily. There is often a high level of skill or craftsmanship required for one-off production and as such these kinds of products are often more expensive than their mass or continually produced equivalents.
Examples of one-off products
Examples of one-off products
You may not think of the Tower of Westminster (or the Big Ben Clock as we know it) as products but they were certainly one-off constructions.
Made to measure footwear.
Custom jewellery. VERY expensive!
Bespoke kitchens can be require very high levels of craftsmanship. They can also command very high prices.
Batch Production
Batch Production
Batch production is when a fixed number of identical products are manufactured using larger scale machines & use of jigs/moulds/templates to ensure accurate repetition along a production line. Each batch of product can be modified as required by the client (the person ordering the products) with design changes being relatively straightforward to make. Often the use of standardised machinery is used with only the moulds differing between batches (as required). It is common for CNC automation to be used so as to speed up the process and make it more energy and cost efficient, rather than requiring a highly skilled, highly specialised workforce.
Examples of batch products
Examples of batch products
Food is usually cooked in batches., for example these bakers doughnuts.
These are silicon dies. They are separated into individual computer chips. One silicon die can contain millions of individual transistors.
This IKEA wardrobe would have been manufactured using batch production. Furniture is often manufactured in this way. Batches help enable production to match demand. Just in-time (JIT) manufacturing is a key concept in this process.
Many electrical goods are manufactured using batch production, e.g. the 'top of the line' smartphones. Manufacturers and sales outlets (such as online and high street shops) do not like too much stock sitting on shelves as this cost money in rent. The less time it is in storage the less it costs them money in overheads.
Mass Production
Mass Production
Mass production is a system where a very high volume of identical products are manufactured on a production line. They move along various stages of manufacture towards completion. There is often a high level of automation through the use of CNC and robotics. There is a very high set up cost and only the most capable manufacturers can afford this system of manufacture. There is little flexibility in the system and this means any changes often require a total shut-down of the plant and require very high levels of interruption in order to implement the changes. Therefore once a product has entered mass production it can be very difficult to stop it without incurring very high costs.
Examples of mass produced products
Examples of mass produced products
Cars are mass produced. Often car manufacturers will share common components between each other to save costs. They are differentiated (made to look different) by simply changing the interior trim details.
Chocolate bars on the mass production line. On they trundle 24 hours a day. Note the absence of a human being in this photo. Mass production is often completely automated.
Workers on an electronics assembly line, picking and placing components.
These are drinks cartons ready for shipping from a manufacturing plant. Food is often mass produced, e.g. Heinz baked beans.
Continuous Production
Continuous Production
Continuous production is when products are produced with almost no stoppage. They have an extremely high demand and are often totally automated. Production lines in factories run for 24 hours a day and need low skilled labour due to a consistent product outcome and the fact that machines do most of the detailed, intricate, skilled work. This scale requires a high setup cost and is very inflexible to design/production changes as any downtime will impact the production line output and company profit as a result.
Examples of continuously produced products
Examples of continuously produced products
Petrols, oils and lubricants are needed continually, every single day to help run and maintain almost every single piece of machinery.
Washing up liquids and cleaning products
Paper and card is continually produced on rolls and simply cut up into sheets or smaller rolls and packaged accordingly.
Bricks are continually produced. Whilst modern building methods are always being developed, bricks have re-surged in popularity again in recent years due to their simplicity and low cost.
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