ms-05 mba assignment july dec 2010 Question 4

Q4) What are the distinct features of job production as compared to mass and batch production Systems?

Solution:

Job production

            Job production involves producing a one-off product for a specific customer. Job production is most ften associated with small firms (making railings for a specific house, building/repairing a computer for a specific customer, making flower arrangements for a specific wedding etc.) but large firms use job production too. Examples include: Designing and implementing an advertising campaign Auditing the accounts of a large PUBLIC COMPANY. Building a new factory Installing machinery in a factory Key benefits of job production include: work is generally of a high quality a high level of customisation is possible to meet the customer's exact requirements significant flexibility is possible, especially when compared to mass production. Workers can be easily motivated due to the skilled nature of the work they are performing.

Disadvantages include:

            Higher cost of production requires the use of specialist labour (compare with the repetitive, low-skilled jobs in mass  production.slow compared to other methods of  production.Essential featuresThere are a number of features that should be implemented in a job production environment, they include:Clear definitions of objectives should be set. Clearly outlined decision making process:          

MOSTLY LARGE CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES:              

BECTHEL CORPORATION [US]:     

            Batch production is a manufacturing   used to produce or process any product in BATCHES, as opposed to a CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION process, or a one-off production. The primary characeristic of batch production is that all components are completed at a workstation before they move to the next one. Batch production is popular in bakeries and in the manufacture of sports shoes, pharmaceutical ingredients, inks, paints and adhesives. In the manufacture of inks and paints, a technique called a colour-run is used. A colour-run is where one manufactures the lightest color first, such as light yellow followed by the next increasingly darker colour such as orange, then red and so on until reaching black and then starts over again. This minimizes the cleanup and reconfiguring of the machinery between each batch. White (by which is meant opaque paint, not transparent ink) is the only colour that cannot be used in a colour run due to the fact that a small amount of white pigment can adversely affect the medium colours.
There are inefficiencies associated with batch production. The production equipment must be stopped, re-configured, and its output tested before the next batch can be produced.

            Time between batches is known as 'down time'. Batch production is useful for a factory that makes seasonal items or products for which it is difficult to FORECAST demand. There are several advantages of batch production; it can reduce initial capital outlay because a single production line can be used to produce several  PRODUCTS. As shown in the example, batch production can be useful for small businesses who cannot afford to run continuous production lines. Also, companies can use batch production as a trial run. If a retailer buys a batch of a product that does not sell then the producer can cease production without having to sustain huge losses.

MOST PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES:   

PFIZER BAXTER [US]:

            Mass production (also called flow production, repetitive flow production, or series production) is the production of large amounts of standardized products on PRODUCTION LINES. Mass production typically uses moving tracks or conveyor belts to move partially complete products to workers, who perform simple repetitive tasks to permit very high rates of production per worker, allowing the high-volume manufacture of inexpensive finished goods. Mass production is Capital intensive, as it uses a high proportion of machinery in relation to workers. With fewer labour costs and a faster rate of production, capital is increased while expenditure is decreased. However the machinery that is needed to set up a mass production line is so expensive that there must be some assurance that the product is to be successful so the company can get a return on its investment. Machinery for mass production such as ROBOTS and Machine Presses have high installation costs as well. Thus, mass production is ideally suited to serve large, relatively homogenous populations of consumers, whose demand would satisfy the long production runs required by this method of manufacturing. As such, it is not surprising that, given a number of other factors, mass production first became prevalent in the United States.

One of the descriptions of mass production is that the craftsmanship is in the workbench itself, not the training of the worker; rather than having a skilled worker measure every dimension of each part of the product against the plans or the other parts as it is being formed, there are JIGS and GAUGE BLOCKS  that are ready at hand to ensure that the part is made to fit this set-up. It has already been checked that the finished part will be to specifications to fit all the other finished parts - and it will be made quicker, with no time spent on finishing the parts to fit one another. This is the specialized capital required for mass production; each workbench is different and each set of tools at each workbench limited to those necessary to make one part. As each of these parts is uniformly and consistently constructed, interchangeability of components is thus another hall mark of mass produced goods.

Use of assembly lines in mass production:

            Mass production systems are usually organized into assembly lines. The assemblies pass by on a conveyor, or if they are heavy, hung from an overhead monorail.

In a factory for a complex product, rather than one assembly line, there may be many auxiliary assembly lines feeding sub-assemblies (i.e. car engines or seats) to a backbone "main" assembly line. A diagram of a typical mass-production factory looks more like the skeleton of a fish than a single line.     

Advantages and disadvantages:

            The economies of mass production come from several sources. The primary cause is a reduction of nonproductive effort of all types. In craft production, the craftsman must bustle about a shop, getting parts and assembling them. He must locate and use many tools many times for varying tasks. In mass production, each worker repeats one or a few related tasks that use the same tool to perform identical or near-identical operations on a stream of products. The exact tool and parts are always at hand, having been moved down the assembly line consecutively. The worker spends little or no time retrieving and/or preparing materials and tools, and so the time taken to manufacture a product using mass production is shorter than when using traditional methods.
The probability of human error and variation is also reduced, as tasks are predominantly carried out by machinery. A reduction in labour costs, as well as an increased rate of production, enables a company to produce a larger quantity of one product at a lower cost than using traditional, non-linear methods. However, mass production is inflexible because it is difficult to alter a design or production process after a production line is implemented. Also, all products produced on one production line will be identical or very similar, and introducing variety to satisfy individual tastes is not easy. However, some variety can be achieved by applying different finishes and decorations at the end of the production line if necessary.                                               

MOSTLY MOTOR VEHICLES:

FORD MOTORS [US]                                               

GENERAL MOTORS [US]                                                      

FLOW PRODUCTION:
            Flow production involves a continuous movement of items through the production process. This means that when one task is finished the next task must start immediately. Therefore, the time taken on each task must be the same. Flow production (often known as mass production) involves the use of production lines such as in a car manufacturer where doors, engines, bonnets and wheels are added to a chassis as it moves along the assembly line. It is appropriate when firms are looking to produce a high volume of similar items. Some of the big brand names that have consistently high demand are most suitable for this type of production:

Heinz baked beans Kellogg’s cornflakes Marsbars                             

Advantages:
            Flow production is capital intensive. This means it uses a high proportion of machinery in relation to workers, as is the case on an assembly line. The advantage of this is that a high number of products can roll off assembly lines at very low cost. This is because production can continue at night and over weekends and also firms can benefit from economies of scale, which should lower the cost per unit of production.

Disadvantages:
            The main disadvantage is that with so much machinery it is very difficult to alter the production process. This makes production inflexible and means that all products have to be very similar or standardised and cannot be tailored to individual tastes. However some “variety” can be achieved by applying different finishes, decorations etc at the end of the production line