Production and manufacturing
Products made in commercial production environments are manufactured in different quantities using different methodologies. There are five terms used in relation to manufacturing a product:
- The first working model of a design used for testing, development and evaluation. or one-off production
- Where one group of identical products is made at the same time, before moving onto producing the next group.
- When the same product is manufactured many times.
- A systematic approach to minimising waste within a manufacturing system.
- Materials or parts are delivered just before they are needed.
Scales of production
Prototypes and one-off production
In one-off production, an individual item is designed and made to meet a In business, a client is a person or organisation that wants a product manufactured, eg a retailer. specification. At this level both time and material costs are high, and a high level of design and manufacturing skills is required.
Batch production
Where one group of identical products is made at the same time, before moving onto producing the next group. is where many items of the same product are produced, such as swimwear and fashionwear. A range of specific and identical products can be produced, including fashion and seasonal items which are regularly changed, but time is lost when Set up a production line with different tools for a new task. and skilled workers are needed. When a product is made in a batch, it is often far cheaper per product than making just one.
Example
Assume the cost of 1 m2 of fabric costs £6.00, and it takes 100 mm × 200 mm of fabric to make one pocket.
Therefore, one pocket not made as part of a batch = £6.00
However, a producer could work out the number of pockets that could be cut out from a 1 m2 of fabric.
1,000 mm ÷ 100mm = 10
1,000 m ÷ 200 mm = 50
10 × 5 = 50
Therefore, 50 pockets could be cut from the fabric.
Batch of 50 pockets = 6 ÷ 50
= 0.12
One pocket = 12p (in batch)
Question
A budget of 8p per pocket has been put aside to make a small sleeve pocket on batch-produced shirts. Each pocket needs to be made from a single piece of fabric that is 100 mm2. The fabric costs £7.00 per square metre.
Can the pockets be made from this fabric? If so, how many and how much money would be left in the project budget?
Yes, the pockets can be made from material of this price.
The material costs £7.00 for a piece that is 1,000 mm2 and each pocket is 100 mm2.
1,000 ÷ 100 = 10
As the pockets are square:
10 × 10 = 100
100 pockets can be made from the piece of fabric.
Since the budget allocated for each pocket was 8p each:
£7.00 ÷ 100 = 7p per pocket
8p × 100 = £8.00
£8.00 - £7.00 = £1.00
There is £1.00 left from the allocated amount.
Mass production
Manufacturing in huge numbers is categorised as mass production. This level of production involves standardised production methods, A set of tasks that come one after the other and result in an identical end product. and the extensive use of automation. Because of the high set-up costs, mass production systems tend to be inflexible. Examples of mass production for textiles are plain T-shirts, school shirts and socks, with products kept low cost as large amounts are made and bulk materials are cheaper to buy.
Scales of manufacturing
Lean manufacturing
A systematic approach to minimising waste within a manufacturing system. puts a focus on efficiency to add value for a customer, simplifying manufacturing processes and reducing waste. The philosophy originated in the Japanese car industry and has since been adopted by many organisations. There are seven areas to lean manufacturing known as ‘The seven wastes’:
- over-production - producing more than is required
- transportation - the unnecessary movement of items
- over-processing - processing too soon or too much
- inventory - holding more than is required
- motion - the unnecessary movement of people
- defects - errors and mistakes
- waiting - for someone or for an event to happen
Just-in-time (JIT)
Materials or parts are delivered just before they are needed. is triggered by a customer order. The correct amounts of materials are ordered in to cover the order, and these arrive just as they are needed by production. This saves money on storage, reduces waste and ensures there is no money wasted producing stock that will remain unsold. There are disadvantages to the system in that, if any part of the product cannot be sourced, clients have to wait for their order to be produced.
