OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT BTT..315
TERM PAPER
1. Describe the differences between batch and flow production.
Flow production.
Flow Production requires specialist machinery. Because of the high capital investment requirement, it is essential to achieve high level of utilisation. This requires a high level of sales of a fairly standardized product made for stock.
Flow production links up with a strategy of undifferentiated marketing whereas batch production suggests that the product is tailored to suit the needs of particular customers or segments.
The manpower required is specialist, but low in skills and performing repetitive task as compared to batch production where the levels of skills required are comparatively high.
The great advantage of line production is that with long production runs unit costs will be very low as compared to batch production.
Batch production
This is a technique used in manufacturing, in which the object in question is created stage by stage over a series of workstations, and different batches of products are made. With job production (one-off production) and flow production (continuous production) it is one of the three main production methods.
There is some repetition of production which is for stock (rather than to order). Production is not continuous. Change-over between batches means that resources are idle at times. Consequently, production managers have to plan production schedules to minimize changeovers. The machinery employed will be specialised for production of the firm's products, but yet flexible enough for different batches.
Batch production is most common in bakeries and in the manufacture of sports shoes, pharmaceutical ingredients, purifying water, 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 colour first, such as light yellow followed by the next increasingly darker colour such...