The activity or the combination of activities that are mainly performed to convert raw material into a finished product of different shapes and sizes with or without making any changes in the mechanical and physical properties of the product material is termed as Manufacturing Process or Production Process. There are various types of manufacturing processes used in manufacturing industries, e.g. Job shop production, Batch production, Mass production, Contiuous flow production, and Project type production.
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Manufacturing Processes Types
There are majorly two types of Manufacturing Processes/Systems or Production processes in manufacturing:
1. Continuous manufacturing process or system – also known as a flow production system.
2. Intermittent manufacturing process or system.
Continuous Manufacturing Process | System
This type of process is used to produce or process products without interruption by constantly supplying material.
In this type of production system, materials being processed are continuously in motion.
Manufacturing of similar products (Product Standardization).
Keeps machines and equipment totally busy (Continuous flow).
Based on the single piece flow system that is widely adopted in Lean Manuafcturing Industries.
Disruption of any one machine lead on stoppage of whole production line.
There is a fixed path for material handling.
Mass Production comes under Continuous manufacturing System/process.
Mass Production
- Manufacturing many identical goods at once.
- Large scale production of standardized goods or components.
- It is the industrial technique to produce large quantities of similar products in constant flows.
- Company produces different types of products on a large -scale and stock them in warehouses until they are demanded in the market. E.g. Toothpaste, Soaps etc.
Intermittent Manufacturing Process | Process
These products are of different sizes. e.g. Belts and shoes manufacturing of different sizes.
The design of these products goes on changing.
It keeps on changing according to the design and size of the product. Therefore, this system is very flexible. E.g. Gold making etc.
Job-Based/Job Shop, Batch Production, and Project type production comes under this Intermittent Production System/Process.
Job-Based/Job Shop
- It makes small batches of custom goods i.e. specifically for one customer.
- Entails handling of the entire task either by a single employee or a group of employee. E.g. Construction of Bridge.
Batch Production
- A method whereby a group of identical products are produced simultaneously rather than one at a time. E.g. Shoes manufacturing of different sizes.
Project Production System/Process
- Customize products are made.
- To fulfill specific customer demand.
- An operation designed to produce large, expensive, specialized products such as aircraft , submarines, defense weapons and aerospace products such as passenger planes, and the space shuttle etc.
