types of production system

TYPES OF
PRODUCTION
Yarramsetty Mohan S S Ram

Types of production
The types of production system are grouped
under two categories viz.,
 Intermittent production system, and
 Continuous production system.

Intermittent production
system
 Intermittent means something that starts
(initiates) and stops (halts) at irregular
(unfixed) intervals (time gaps).

Intermittent production
system
 In the intermittent production system, goods
are produced based on customer's orders.
These goods are produced on a small scale.
The flow of production is intermittent
(irregular). In other words, the flow of
production is not continuous. In this system,
large varieties of products are produced.
These products are of different sizes. The
design of these products goes on changing. It
keeps changing according to the design and
size of the product. Therefore, this system is
very flexible.

Examples of Intermittent production
system

Features of an intermittent production
system

The characteristics of an intermittent
production system are listed as follows:
 The flow of production is not continuous. It is
intermittent.
 Wide varieties of products are produced.
 The volume of production is small.
 General purpose machines are used. These
machines can be used to produce different types
of products.
 The sequence of operation goes on changing as
per the design of the product.
 The quantity, size, shape, design, etc. of the
product depends on the customer's orders.

Continuous production
system
Continuous means something that operates
constantly without any irregularities or frequent
halts.

Continuous production
system
 In the continuous production system, goods
are produced constantly as per demand
forecast. Goods are produced on a large scale
for stocking and selling. They are not produced
on customer's orders. Here, the inputs and
outputs are standardized along with the
production process and sequence.

Examples of Continuous production
system

characteristics of a continuous
production system are listed as follows:
 The flow of production is continuous. It is not
intermittent.
 The products are standardized.
 The products are produced on predetermined
quality standards.
 The products are produced in anticipation(An
expectation) of demand.
 Standardized routing sheets and schedules
are prepared

1. Mass production flows
 Here, company produces different types of
products on a large-scale and stock them in
warehouses until they are demanded in
the market.
 The goods are produced either with the help of
a single operation or uses a series of
operations.
 E.g. of mass production is the production of
toothpastes, soaps, pens, etc.

characteristics mass production
flows
 There is a continuous flow of production.
However, this depends on the demand in the
market.
 Here, there is limited work-in-progress.
 Supervision is easy because only few
instructions are necessary.
 The material handling is done mostly by
machines, i.e. conveyors and automatic
transfer machines.
 The flow of materials is continuous. There is
little or no queuing at any stage of production.

Process production flows
 Here, a single product is produced and
stocked in warehouses until it is demanded in
the market. The flexibility of these plants is
almost zero because only one product can be
produced.
 Examples of these plants include, steel,
cement, paper, sugar, etc.

characteristics process production
flows
 There is a highly mechanized system for handling
materials. Conveyors and automatic transfer
machines are used to move the materials from
one stage to another.
 Low-skilled labour and skilled technicians are
required.
 There is very less work-in-progress because
material flow is continuous.
 The production planning and scheduling can be
decided well in advance.
 The full production system is designed to produce
only one specific type of item.

The types of an intermittent production system
include:
 Project production flows,
 Jobbing production flows, and
 Batch production flows.

Project production flows
 Here, in project production flows, company
accepts a single, complex order or contract.
The order must be completed within a given
period of time and at an estimated cost.
 Examples of project production flows mainly
include, construction of airports, dams, roads,
buildings, shipbuilding, etc.

Examples of project production

characteristics project
production
 The requirement of resources is not same (it varies).
Generally, the resource requirement at the beginning
is low. Then in mid of production, the requirement
increases. Finally, it slows down when the project is
near its completion phase.
 Many agencies are involved in the project. Each
agency performs specialized jobs. Here, coordination
between agencies is important because all jobs are
interrelated.
 Delays take place in completion of projects due to its
complexity and massiveness.
 As routing and scheduling changes with fresh orders,
proper inspection is required at each stage of
production.

Job production
 Here, in jobbing production flows, company
accepts a contract to produce either one or
few units of a product strictly as per
specifications given by the customer. The
product is produced within a given period and
at a fixed cost. This cost is fixed at the time of
signing the contract.
 Examples of such jobbing production flows
include, services given by repair shops,
tailoring shops, manufacturer of special
machine tools, etc.

characteristics job
production
 The production of items takes place in small
lots. Sometimes only one product is produced
at one time.
 The items are manufactured strictly as per
customer's specifications.
 Highly skilled labour is required to perform
specialized jobs.
 There is disproportionate manufacturing cycle
time. For e.g. the time needed to design the
product may be more than the manufacturing
time.

Batch production
 In batch production flows, the production
schedule is decided according to specific
orders or are based on the demand forecasts.
Here, the production of items takes place in
lots or batches. A product is divided into
different jobs. All jobs of one batch of
production must be completed before starting
the next batch of production.
 Examples of batch production flows include,
manufacturing of drugs and pharmaceuticals,
medium and heavy machineries, etc.

characteristics batch
production
 The products are made and kept in stock until
their demand arises in the market.
 General purpose machines and handling
equipments, which can do many different jobs
quickly are installed. This is because large
varieties of items are to be produced.
 There is a possibility of large work-in-progress
due to many reasons.
 There is a need for detailed production
planning and control.

types of production system

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