Production
The use of resources, such as workers and machinery, to convert materials into finished goods and services
Production and operations management
the process of overseeing the production process by managing the people and machinery that convert materials and resources into finished goods and services
Operations
Refers to the actual step-by-step actions or operations that are carried out in the production process
- Can be an action by a human or a machine
- at the heart of operations decisions is efficient production
Production is a vital business activity, necessary for generating value by transforming inputs
The Strategic Importance of Production
- Effective production and operations management can:
1. Lower a firm’s costs of production
2. improve the quality of its goods and services
3. create value by developing new products - all of which will create distinctive competencies which create the competitive advantage necessary for success
- companies must do something better than other (cost or quality)
Mass Production
a system for manufacturing products in large quantities by using effective combinations of employees with specialized skills, mechanization, and standardization
Specialization
diving work into its simplest forms so that each other can focus on one task
Mechanization
Machines do much of the work previously done by people
Standardization
producing identical, interchangeable goods and parts
Mass Production Challenges:
- Labour specialization can lead to boring, repetitive jobs
- highly efficient in producing large numbers of similar products but highly inefficient in producing small batches of different items
- companies focus on efficient production methods instead of making what customers want
- it is better to be effective rather than efficient, efficiently making the wrong thins does not mean success
Customer-Driven Production
- assess customers demands using data from sales
- make a more direct connection between the products manufactured and the products people want to buy.
- The more direct and faster the connection, the product supply will be more accurate
- Reduces inventory carrying costs and the risk of obsolescence or “stale” inventory.
- Flexible production: usually more cost-effective for producing smaller runs than mass production.
1. communication within the organization using technology and skilled people
Analytic production system
reduces a raw material to its component or individual parts to extract one or more marketable products
synthetic production system
combines two or more raw materials or parts, or transforms raw materials, to produce finished products
Continuous production process
creates the finished products on a repetitive production line
intermittent production process
creates products in short production runs, value is created by the flexibility. Cost is in the production equipment
Robots
a machine that can be programmed to perform tasks that require the repeated use of materials and tools
- frees workers from boring, sometimes dangerous jobs
- able to repeat tasks many times without a variation in quality
- flexibility and efficiency
computer-aided design (CAD)
process used by engineers to design parts and entire products on the computer
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
can analyze the steps a machine must take to produce a needed product or part
Computer-integtrated manufacturing (CIM)
An integrated production system that uses computers to design products, control machines, handle materials, and control the production function
- advantages include increased productivity, decreased design costs, increased equipment utilization, and improved quality
Green manufacturing processes
- investing resources into developing processes that result in less waste, lower energy use, and little or no pollution
LEED (leadership in energy& environmental design)
voluntary certification program offered by the Canada Green Building Council
- aims to promote the most sustainable construction processes available
- energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality etc
The Job of Production Managers
- oversee the work of people and technology to convert inputs (materials and resources) into finished goods and services.
- Planning the production process
- convert original product ideas into final specifications
- design the most efficient facilities to produce those products
Process layouts
groups machinery and equipment according to their functions
- facilitates production of variety of nonstandard items into relatively small batches
Product layout
sets up production equipment along a product-flow line, and the work in process moves along this line past workstation
- efficiently produces large numbers of similar items
fixed-position layout
places the product in one spot, and workers, materials, and equipment come to it.
