Production processes

The choice of production that a business may chose to use will be determined by the financial resources that the firm has and the extent to that it seeks to produce a differentiated product! Project production is mainly used in large scale projects made to customers requirements for example such as a an oil tanker. The product is unique and is manufactured by skilled labour workers using flexible resources. Due to the detail required to make the product, considerable planning is required for assurance of product guarantee as there is a lot at stake, as the product is unique and has a lot of financial backing. Quantitative techniques such as network analysis are essential to successful management of the project. It is normally necessary to break down the overall project in to manageable sub tasks, many of which are subcornated.
Jobbing production mainly refereed to, as job production is similar to project production, as they are both concerned with the production of unique goods, which are made to order. Project production mainly produces large-scale goods whereas in job production the items are small scale ones and are made in a workshop, example; such as made to measure three piece suits. Machinery carry out the same processes as a skilled workers may, the product moves from one workstation to another, were different objectives are met. Job production is a method of organising production where a series of different products are made to satisfy customer requirements. A lot planning is undertaken for each customer, as his or her order is completely different from any other. Job production involves more skilled work, there are likely to be less preparative activities, therefore meaning the purchase price of the product is likely to be fairly high.
There are a number of advantages that a business can gain from using job production. The Duties mainly carried out by employees require a lot of skill, knowledge and expertise. Work will be more demanding and motivating. As many production processes do, they all have a negative set backs, in this case labour costs will be will be fairly high as the required workforce are skilled and demand high wage packets. Also production tends to be labour intensive, also cost of sales will be high as customers demand the best quality, as they are not purchasing in bulk, the organisation is unlikely to make as much profit.

Batch production, this is the manufacture of different versions of the same basic product in bulk or batches. For example in different colours etc”however production is not continuos, the relatively short production runs result in a higher unit cost than would be the case if production was continuos”. Batch production is a common method of organising production production in today’s organisations, which falls between job production and flow production.
The benefits that batch production has on a business is the even though larger quantities of products are being produced, compared with job production, there is still flexibility. This is due to each batch satisfying a certain segment of the market. For example a Nintendo 64, in pink designed to be sold to young girls, pink is used to attract potential pulse purchases. This production method doesn’t involve employees completing products single-handed, it involves the whole organisation undertaken various task. Batch production has a moderate level of planning and co-ordination, these are required. Machines or employees may be idle, wailing on different stages of the process to be completed. Machinery may have to be serviced etc, therefore causing delays.
Flow production is also regarded to as a process of producing a large quantity of products. It is also a keen method of organising production. This methods takes line production to its ultimate limit, dedicated plant is used to manufacture a single product on a continuo basis for example over 24hrs a day. It is mainly used for oil refining etc. Flow production is also known as mass production, and this is a method of arranging production such as a motorcar passes through a sequence of predetermined operations an d processes which constitute a production line or assembly line, production is organised so that different operations can be carried out, shortly after one another, in a process circle.
The main objective of flow production is also to produce in mass. Flow production is where production takes place as a continuous process. The product flows from one process onto the next. This will usually happen where the product is standardised, and can be made using a production line method. Line production id best understood by the example of assembles line manufacture of motor vehicles or electrical goods. Specialist machinery will be used in the process and because of the high capital investment required, it is essential to active a high level of utilisation.
This assures a high level of sales of a fairly standard product. Line production has a method of using undiffernated sratergy of marketing. whereas job and batch production suggest that the product is made to meet the wants and need of customers in certain areas of the market. There are a number of skilled workers that are required for this process. The layout of the workshop is set in way in order to assure low costs and time.