Methods of Production

• What is job production?

  Job production is a manufacturing approach where products are made individually, often customised to meet specific customer requirements.
• What is batch production?

  Batch production is a manufacturing process where a set of identical products are produced together in a group or batch. Partly automated making it faster to produce products than job production.
• What is flow production?

  Flow production is a manufacturing method where products are produced continuously in a sequential and standardised process. Highly automated, making it very quick to produce products.
• What is cell production?


  Where workers are organised into multi-skilled teams, with each team responsible for particular part of the production process.
• How can the choice of production method impact a business?

  Efficiency, quality, profitability of products, what a business can afford.
• Advantages of job production:

  • High quality products -> produced by highly skilled and specialised workers
  • Customisation
  • Can use it to add value
  • Workers involved in entire production process from start to finish -> increased job satisfaction, increased staff retention, allows for less money to be spent on recruiting and training staff and more money to be spent on different departments.
  • High customer satisfaction
  • More flexibility in production
• Disadvantages of job production:

  For business:

  • High production costs
  • Longer production time compared to other production methods
  • Investment in machinery may be higher as specialist equipment may be needed
  • Hard to replace finished products with new ones

  For customers:

  • Higher fees for customised products
  • Difficulty in finding replacements since the products are uniquely designed
  • Longer waiting times to receive the final product
• Advantages of batch production1:

  • Smaller quantity of items produced
  • Allows for flexibility for the type of products
  • Decreased lead time in production
  • Inventories of part-finished goods can be finished and stored later
  • Reduced wastage - Producing the correct number of goods required helps minimise waste overall
  • Greater quality control - business is able to check and test products over each stage of the manufacturing process, allowing for reduced wastage as instead of having thousands of faulty products at the end of production, they can be checked at each stage
• Advantages of batch production2:

  • Lower cost - more products are produced on the same assembly line so business can make some use of economies of scale
  • If the machinery isn't continually active, running costs can be reduced and maintenance can be scheduled for downtimes — instead of having to halt production altogether
  • Multi-use capabilities - variants of items, efficient use of equipment, minimises risk of concentrating on one product so business can be more agile in responding to supply and demand
• Disadvantages of batch production:

  • Difficulty automating - Due to many variables, can be difficult to automate system.
  • Potential for employee downtown - pauses between each production stage for quality control, adjustments and testing or cleaning equipment
  • More costly than mass production - more expensive due to additional production stages, initial equipment + technology as it needs to be specifically designed for the function its used for.
  • Longer production - Products cannot move onto the next production stage until every product is finished, which takes longer.
• Advantages of flow production 1:


  • Economies of scale can be achieved as cost per unit will be low
  • Automated assembly lines save time and money - shorter lead times leading to faster delivery increasing customer satisfaction
  • Quality systems can be built into the production at each stage
  • Low inventory - shorter lead times lead to less inventory reducing inventory costs. Allows for more space for production or storing finished goods.
  • Structured material flow
• Advantages of flow production 2:

  • Short transportation distances: Machines are placed close to each other, so there is less risk of breakage or damage when moving different components around therefore reducing wastage costs
  • Low labour skills needed: Due to high automation, businesses don't need to hire high-skill labour to operate the system
  • Cheaper ordering costs: Producing mass products require companies to order a large quantity of goods at a time. As a result, they can benefit from purchasing economies of scale
• Disadvantages of flow production 1:

  • Low quality products usually produced - can't add value to the product
  • High initial set-up costs of automated assembly lines - not suited for new businesses
  • Workers find work repetitive and boring
  • Special machines: Machines in flow production are expensive and perform only one function. It is difficult to replace machines if something breaks down
  • Danger of stoppage: If one station breaks down, the whole assembly line will stop with it
• Disadvantages of flow production 2:

  • High maintenance costs - Big, bulky machines regular maintenance adding to costs.
• Advantages of Cell Production 1:

  • Stability of the team improves communication between the cell members
  • Processes, defects, scheduling and maintenance can be managed more efficiently and cost-effectively
  • Workers become multi-skilled and are consequently more adaptable and flexible to the changes in the business
  • seeing the product from start to finish may create greater 'pride' and job satisfaction
  • Staff feel more involved in decision-making and the variety of work and greater responsibility generally results in increased motivation
• Advantages of cell production 2:

  • Quality improves because each cell has 'ownership' over production and cells often aim for 'zero defects' and the elimination of waste
  • Low stock requirements and minimal work-in-progress allows for the operation of a Just-In-Time (JIT) system
  • improved customer response time - leads to faster delivery increasing customer satisfaction
  • Greater worker motivation, arising from variety of work, team working and more responsibility due to high job enrichment, aligns with Herzberg's motivation theory.
• Disadvantages of cell production 1:

  • May not allow firms to use their machinery as intensively as in flow production and output will be lower than mass production as a result
  • Greater investment is required in new management and control processes, such as stock ordering
  • There may be rivalry between different cells and conflict may arise if one cell is left to wait for output from another
  • The company culture has to encourage trust and participation, or workers can feel that they are being constantly pushed for more and more output with no respite.
• Disadvantages of cell production 2:

  • The company may have to invest in new materials handling and ordering systems suitable for cell production.
  • Cell production may not allow a firm to use its machinery as intensively as in flow production.
  • Some small scale production lines may not yield enough savings to make a switch cell production economically worthwhile.
  • The allocation of work to cells has to be efficient so that they have enough work, but not so much that they are unable to cope.
  • Recruitment and training of staff must support this approach to production.