production and operations management

1. Introduction to Production and Operations
Management
MBA
Production and Operations Management
1
E-Material Prepared By
Priya Singh

2. System
System consists of elements or components. The elements
or components are interlinked together to achieve the
objectives for which the system exists. For example - a
human body is made up of group of organs, called organ
system, that work together to keep the body in balance, or a
business organisation is made up of many administrative
and management functions, products, services, groups and
individuals.
2

3. Business System
Business organisation is classified into different subsystems based on the
functions like marketing, finance, human resource, or production and
operation. Each subsystem will have more sub-subsystems.
3

4. Concept of Production
• Any process which involves conversion of raw material into finished
product for satisfaction of human wants is called as production.
Production function refers to creation of goods and services in order
to satisfy human needs by converting resources into outputs.
Production function is that part of an organisation, which is concerned
with the transformation of a range of inputs into the required outputs
having the requisite quality level.
4

5. Definition of Production
• Production is defined as “the step-by-step conversion of one form of
material into another form through chemical or mechanical process to
create or enhance the utility of the product to the user.” Thus
production is a value addition process. At each stage of processing,
there will be value addition.
• Edwood Buffa defines production as ‘a process by which goods
and services are created’.
5

6. Production System
The production system of an organisation is
that part, which produces products of an
organisation. It is that activity whereby
resources, flowing within a defined system,
are combined and transformed in a
controlled manner to add value in
accordance with the policies
communicated by management.
6

7. Characteristics of Production System
• Production is an organised activity, so every production system has
an objective.
• The system transforms the various inputs to useful outputs.
• It does not operate in isolation from the other organisation system.
• There exists a feedback about the activities, which is essential to
control and improve system performance.
7

8. Production Management
 Production management is a process of planning, organising, directing and
controlling the activities of the production function. It combines and
transforms various resources used in the production subsystem of the
organisation into value added product in a controlled manner as per the
policies of the organisation.
 E.S. Buffa defines production management as, “Production management
deals with decision making related to production processes so that the
resulting goods or services are produced according to specifications, in the
amount and by the schedule demanded and out of minimum cost.”
8

9. Objectives of Production Management
The objective of the production management is ‘to produce goods services of right quality and quantity
at the right time and right manufacturing cost’.
1. RIGHT QUALITY
The quality of product is established based upon the customers needs. The right quality is not necessarily
best quality. It is determined by the cost of the product and the technical characteristics as suited to the
specific requirements.
2. RIGHT QUANTITY
The manufacturing organisation should produce the products in right number. If they are produced in
excess of demand the capital will block up in the form of inventory and if the quantity is produced in
short of demand, leads to shortage of products.
9

10. Objectives of Production Management
3. RIGHT TIME
Timeliness of delivery is one of the important parameter to judge the effectiveness of
production department. So, the production department has to make the optimal
utilisation of input resources to achieve its objective.
4. RIGHT MANUFACTURING COST
Manufacturing costs are established before the product is actually manufactured.
Hence, all attempts should be made to produce the products at pre-established cost, so
as to reduce the variation between actual and the standard (pre-established) cost.
10

11. Operating System
 Operating system converts inputs in order to provide outputs which are required by a customer.
It converts physical resources into outputs, the function of which is to satisfy customer wants
i.e., to provide some utility for the customer. In some of the organisation the product is a
physical good (hotels) while in others it is a service (hospitals). Bus and taxi services, tailors,
hospital and builders are the examples of an operating system.
 Ray Wild defines operating system as, “An operating system is a configuration of resources
combined for the provision of goods or services.”
11

12. Concept of Operations
• An operation is defined in terms of the mission it serves for the organisation, technology it
employs and the human and managerial processes it involves.
• Operations in an organisation can be categorised into manufacturing operations and service
operations.
• Manufacturing operations is a conversion process that includes manufacturing yields a tangible
output: a product, whereas, a conversion process that includes service yields an intangible
output: a deed, a performance, an effort.
12

13. Difference Between Manufacturing Operations
and Service Operations
Following characteristics can be considered for distinguishing manufacturing operations with service
operations:
1. Tangible/Intangible nature of output
2. Consumption of output
3. Nature of work (job)
4. Degree of customer contact
5. Customer participation in conversion
6. Measurement of performance.
13

14. Difference Between Manufacturing Operations
and Service Operations
 Manufacturing is characterised by tangible outputs (products), outputs that customers
consume overtime, jobs that use less labour and more equipment, little customer contact, no
customer participation in the conversion process (in production), and sophisticated methods for
measuring production activities and resource consumption as product are made.
 Service is characterised by intangible outputs, outputs that customers consumes immediately,
jobs that use more labour and less equipment, direct consumer contact, frequent customer
participation in the conversion process, and elementary methods for measuring conversion
activities and resource consumption. Some services are equipment based namely rail-road
services, telephone services and some are people based namely tax consultant services, hair
styling.
14

15. Operations Management
 Operation Management is a way or means through which
the listed objectives of an operating system is achieved.
There is always a confusion between the word Operations
Management and Production Management. It is accepted
norm that Operations Management includes techniques
which are enabling the achievement of operational
objectives in an operation system.
15

16. Operations Management
 The operation system includes both manufacturing sector as well as service sector, but
when you use the word Production Management, you should be careful to note that it
refers to the manufacturing sector but not the service sector. Suppose, you are designing a
layout for the hospital you should say that you are applying Operations Management
Technique not the Production Management Technique.
 When you design a layout for a manufacturing sector you can say that you are applying
Production Management Technique or Operation Management Technique or vice versa.
 From, the above discussion we can come to a conclusion that Production Management is a
subset of Operations Management.
16

17. Framework for
Managing Operations
Managing operations can be enclosed in a
frame of general management function as
shown in Diagram.
Operation managers are concerned with
planning, organising, and controlling the
activities which affect human behaviour
through models.
17

18. PLANNING
• Activities that establishes a course of action and
guide future decision-making is planning. The
operations manager defines the objectives for the
operations subsystem of the organisation, and the
policies, and procedures for achieving the
objectives. This stage includes clarifying the role
and focus of operations in the organisation’s
overall strategy. It also involves product planning,
facility designing and using the conversion
process. 18

19. ORGANISING
• Activities that establishes a structure of tasks
and authority. Operation managers establish
a structure of roles and the flow of
information within the operations subsystem.
They determine the activities required to
achieve the goals and assign authority and
responsibility for carrying them out.
19

20. CONTROLLING
• Activities that assure the actual performance
in accordance with planned performance. To
ensure that the plans for the operations
subsystems are accomplished, the
operations manager must exercise control by
measuring actual outputs and comparing
them to planned operations management.
Controlling costs, quality, and schedules are
the important functions here. 20

21. BEHAVIOUR
• Operation managers are concerned with how
their efforts to plan, organise, and control
affect human behaviour. They also want to
know how the behaviour of subordinates can
affect management’s planning, organising,
and controlling actions. Their interest lies in
decision-making behaviour.
21

22. MODELS
• As operation managers plan, organise, and control the
conversion process, they encounter many problems
and must make many decisions. They can simplify their
difficulties using models like aggregate planning models
for examining how best to use existing capacity in
short-term, break even analysis to identify break even
volumes, linear programming and computer simulation
for capacity utilisation, decision tree analysis for long-
term capacity problem of facility expansion, simple
median model for determining best locations of facilities
etc. 22

23. Objectives of Operations Management
• Objectives of operations management can be categorised
into
– customer service and
– resource utilisation.
23

24. CUSTOMER SERVICE
• The first objective of operating systems is the customer service to the
satisfaction of customer wants. Therefore, customer service is a key objective
of operations management. The operating system must provide something to
a specification which can satisfy the customer in terms of cost and timing.
Thus, primary objective can be satisfied by providing the ‘right thing at a right
price at the right time’.
24

25. CUSTOMER SERVICE
• Generally an organisation will aim reliably and consistently to achieve certain
standards and operations manager will be influential in attempting to achieve
these standards. Hence, this objective will influence the operations manager’s
decisions to achieve the required customer service.
25

26. RESOURCE UTILISATION
• Another major objective of operating systems is to utilise resources for the
satisfaction of customer wants effectively, i.e., customer service must be
provided with the achievement of effective operations through efficient use
of resources. Inefficient use of resources or inadequate customer service
leads to commercial failure of an operating system.
26

27. RESOURCE UTILISATION
• Operations management is concerned essentially with the utilisation of
resources, i.e., obtaining maximum effect from resources or minimising their
loss, under utilisation or waste. The extent of the utilisation of the
resources’ potential might be expressed in terms of the proportion of
available time used or occupied, space utilisation, levels of activity, etc. Each
measure indicates the extent to which the potential or capacity of such
resources is utilised. This is referred as the objective of resource utilisation.
27

28. RESOURCE UTILISATION
• Operations management is also concerned with the achievement of both
satisfactory customer service and resource utilisation. An improvement in
one will often give rise to deterioration in the other. Often both cannot be
maximised, and hence a satisfactory performance must be achieved on both
objectives. All the activities of operations management must be tackled with
these two objectives in mind, and many of the problems will be faced by
operations managers because of this conflict. Hence, operations managers
must attempt to balance these basic objectives.
28

29. Managing Global Operations
The term ‘Globalisation’ describes businesses’ deployment of facilities and
operations around the world. Globalisation can be defined as a process in which
geographic distance becomes a factor of diminishing importance in the
establishment and maintenance of cross border economic, political and socio-
cultural relations. It can also be defined as worldwide drive toward a globalised
economic system dominated by supranational corporate trade and banking
institutions that are not accountable to democratic processes or national
governments.
29

30. There are four developments, which have spurred the trend
toward globalisation.
These are:
1. Improved transportation and communication technologies;
2. Opened financial systems;
3. Increased demand for imports; and
4. Reduced import quotas and other trade barriers.
30

31. When a firm sets up facilities abroad it involve some added complexities in its
operation. Global markets impose new standards on quality and time. Managers
should not think about domestic markets first and then global markets later,
rather it could be think globally and act locally. Also, they must have a good
understanding of their competitors.
31

32. Some other important challenges of managing multinational operations include
other languages and customs, different management style, unfamiliar laws and
regulations, and different costs. Managing global operations would focus on the
following key issues:
• To acquire and properly utilise the following concepts and those related to
global operations, supply chain, logistics, etc.
• To associate global historical events to key drivers in global operations from
different perspectives.
32

33. • To develop criteria for conceptualisation and evaluation of different global
operations.
• To associate success and failure cases of global operations to political, social,
economical and technological environments.
• To envision trends in global operations.
• To develop an understanding of the world vision regardless of their country of
origin, residence or studies in a respectful way of perspectives of people from
different races, studies, preferences, religion, politic affiliation, place of origin,
etc.
33

34. Scope of Production and Operations Management
Production and operations management concern with the conversion of inputs
into outputs, using physical resources, so as to provide the desired utilities to the
customer while meeting the other organisational objectives of effectiveness,
efficiency and adoptability. It distinguishes itself from other functions such as
personnel, marketing, finance, etc., by its primary concern for ‘conversion by
using physical resources.’
34

35. Following are the activities which are listed under production and
operations management functions:
1. Location of facilities
2. Plant layouts and material
handling
3. Product design
4. Process design
5. Production and planning control
6. Quality control
7. Materials management
8. Maintenance management.
35

36. Product and Service Design
• Customer Satisfaction begins with product and service design.
• Moreover, decisions are made in this area impact operations and the
organization’s overall success.
• Design decisions have strategic significance for business organizations.
• Many of these decisions are not made by the operations manager.
Nonetheless, because of the important links between operations and each
strategic area, it is essential to the success of the organizations to involve all
of the functional area of the organization in design decisions.

37. What Does Product and Service Design Do?
The various activities and responsibilities of product and service design include
the following:
1. Translate customer wants and needs, into product and service requirements.
(marketing, operation)
2. Refine existing product and services. (marketing)
3. Develop new product and/or services. (marketing, Operations)
4. Formulate quality goods. (marketing, operation)
5. Formulate cost targets. (accounting, finance, operations)
6. Construct and test prototypes. (operations, marketing, engineering)
7. Document specifications.

38. What Does Product and Service Design Do?
The various activities and responsibilities of product and service design include
the following:
1. Translate customer wants and needs, into product and service requirements.
(marketing, operation)
2. Refine existing product and services. (marketing)
3. Develop new product and/or services. (marketing, Operations)
4. Formulate quality goods. (marketing, operation)
5. Formulate cost targets. (accounting, finance, operations)
6. Construct and test prototypes. (operations, marketing, engineering)
7. Document specifications.

39. OBJECTIVES OF PRODUCT AND SERVICE DESIGN
• The main focus of product and service design is customer satisfaction.
Hence, it is essential for designers to understand what the customer wants
and design with that in mind.
• Marketing is the primary source of this information.
• It is important to note that although profit is generally the overall measure
of design effectiveness, but the time interval between the design phase and
profit realization is often considerable.
• These typically include development time and cost, and the resulting
product or service quality.

40. OBJECTIVES OF PRODUCT AND SERVICE DESIGN
• Quality, is high on the list of priorities in product
and service design, having high quality was enough
for a product or service to stand out; now it is the
norm, and product and service that fall below this
norm are the ones that stand out.
• For many electronic product, “high tech”
appearance is a design factor

41. LEGAL, ETHICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• Designers must be careful to take into account a wide array of
legal and ethical considerations. Moreover, if there is a
potential to harm the environment, then those issues become
important. Most organizations have numerous government
agencies that regulate them. Among the more familiar federal
agencies are the Bureau of Food and Drug, the Occupational
Health and Safety Administrations, the DENR and various local
agencies and NGOs.

42. LEGAL, ETHICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• Organizations generally want designers to adhere to
guidelines such as the following:
1. Produce designs that are consistent with the goals of
organizations.
2. Give customers the value they expect.
3. Make health and safety a primary concern.
4. Consider potential to harm the environment.

43. PHASES IN PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
1. Idea Generator- product development begins with ideas.
2. Feasibility analysis - entail market analysis(demand), economic
analysis(development cost and production cost, profit
potential), and technical analysis(capacity requirements and
availability, and the skills needed).
3. Product specifications- involves detailed descriptions of what is
needed to meet( or exceed) customer wants, and requires
collaboration between legal, marketing and operations.

44. PHASES IN PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
4. Process specifications- alternatives must be weighed in terms of cost,
availability of resources, profit potential, and quality.
5. Prototype development- units are made to see if there are any problems
with the product or process specifications.
6. Design review- making any necessary changes, or abandoning.
7. Market test- used to determine the extent of consumer acceptance.
8. Production introduction- promoting the product.
9. Follow-up evaluation- determining if changes are needed, and refining
forecasts.

45. Definition of Product Development
In general, the Product Development can be defined as
"creating, innovating, or developing entirely a new
product , or presenting an existing product with
enhanced utility, improved features, more appealing
design, better quality and reliability to satisfy the
requirements of its end-users."

46. Meaning of Product Development
Product means a good, service, idea or object created as a
result of a process and offered to serve a need or satisfy a
want. Development means the act or process of growing,
progressing, or developing.
Product Development is a process of improving the existing
product or to introduce a new product in the market. It is
also referred as New Product Development.

47. Functions of product development
1. Creation of an entirely new product or upgrading an existing
product
2. Innovation of a new or an existing product to deliver better and
enhanced services
3. Enhancing the utility and improving the features of an existing
product
4. Continuous improvement of a product to satisfy rapidly
changing customer needs and wants

48. Product Development Process
The product development process encompasses all
steps needed to take a product from concept to market
availability. This includes identifying a market need,
researching the competitive landscape, conceptualizing
a solution, developing a product roadmap, building a
minimum viable product, etc.

49. Product managers typically drive the product development process from a
strategic standpoint because they are ultimately responsible for the success or
failure of the company’s products. But this process is not strictly a product
management function. Product development requires the work and input of
many teams across a business, including:
• Development
• Design
• Marketing
• Sales
• Finance
• Testing

50. Product managers act as the strategic directors of the development
process. They pull together the cross-functional team,
communicate the big-picture goals and plans for the product (via
the product roadmap), and oversee the team’s progress.
A product roadmap is a high-level visual summary that maps out
the vision and direction of your product offering over time. A
product roadmap communicates the why and what behind what
you’re building. A roadmap is a guiding strategic document as well
as a plan for executing the product strategy.

51. Methods of Product Development
Product can be developed in one of the
three methods:
1. By imitation:
Product development by imitation consists of marketing another product similar to one in the
market.
2. By improvement or adaptation:
Product development by adaptation refers to developing an improved product for an already
existing market.

52. 3. By innovation or invention:
Product improvement consists of modification and improvement in the existing
quality, size, form or design of the existing product so that it may appear almost like a
new product. It includes the following:
– Improvement in quality,
– Improvement in features,
– Improvement in style,
– Improvement in packing.

53. Categories of Product Development
Product development can be divided into two main
categories, namely,
1. Introduction of new products and
2. Improvement of existing products

54. Introduction of a New Product
• There should be sufficient market research activities and sales promotion
work before introducing any product in the market. They are essential
because the chances of a new product failing in the market are quite high.
• The company should properly evaluate the potential market for the product
and for an effective production planning, behavior pattern of the market
change in technology, etc., should be carefully analyzed and assessed.
• The new product should have the capability to replace the existing ones.
This can be accomplished by proper designing and development of the
product.

55. Improvement of Existing Product
• Every manufacturer continuously endeavors to improve his product. For
example, in automobile car industry, in 1920s there were two wheel brakes
in cars, however, within a short period they were replaced by four wheel
brakes with self starters.
• Probably the most important factor contributing towards product
development is the functional demand of the ultimate consumer.
• In short, product development is the work contributing towards
improvements in the existing product by way of improved ideas, systems,
techniques etc.

56. Steps in the process of product development
Idea Screening
02
Market Strategy
Development
04
Product Development
06
Business Analysis
05
Commertialisation
08
Test Marketing
07
Concept Development
03
Idea Generation
01

57. Idea Generation
The first step of product development is Idea Generation
that is identification of new products required to be
developed considering consumer needs and demands. Idea
generation is done through research of market sources like
consumer liking, disliking, and competitor policies. Various
methods are available for idea generation like - Brain
Storming, Delphi Method, or Focus Group.

58. Idea Screening
The second step in the process of product
development is Idea Screening that is selecting
the best idea among the ideas generated at the
first step. As the resources are limited, so all the
ideas are not converted to products. Most
promising idea is kept for the next stage.

59. Concept Development
At this step the selected idea is moved into
development process. For the selected idea different
product concepts are developed. Out of several
product concepts the most suitable concept is selected
and introduced to a focus group of customers to
understand their reaction.

60. Market Strategy Development
At this step the market strategies are developed
to evaluate market size, product demand,
growth potential, and profit estimation for initial
years. Further it includes launch of product,
selection of distribution channel, budgetary
requirements, etc.

61. Business Analysis
At this step business analysis for the new
product is done. Business analysis includes -
estimation of sales, frequency of purchases,
nature of business, production and
distribution related costs and expenses, and
estimation of profit.

62. Product Development
At this step the concept moves to production of
finalised product. Decisions are taken from
operational point of view whether the product is
technically and commercially feasible to
produce. Here the research and development
department develop a physical product.

63. Test Marketing
Now the product is ready to be launched in market
with brand name, packaging, and pricing. Initially the
product is launched in a test market. Before full scale
launching the product is exposed to a carefully chosen
sample of the population, called test market. If the
product is found acceptable in test market the product
is ready to be launched in target market.

64. Commercialisation
Here the product is launched across
target market with a proper market
strategy and plan. This is called
commercialisation phase of product
development.

65. What is a prototype?
• A prototype is a scaled-down version of your product; a simulation or
sample version which enables you to test your ideas and designs before
investing time and money into actually developing the product.
• So, if you’re designing an app, you might create a digital prototype and test
it on real users before handing it off to the developers.
• Prototypes come in all different shapes and sizes, ranging from simple paper
models to fully functional, interactive digital prototypes.

66. Why use prototypes?
• Prototyping is an extremely valuable step in
the product design.
• Putting the user at the heart of the process
requires you to test your designs on real
users—and prototypes make this possible
without spending loads of time and money.

67. Prototypes can help you to:
• Gain first-hand insights into how your users will interact with, and react to,
the product you’re designing. Seeing an early version of the product in
action shows you if, and how, it’ll work in the real world.
• Identify any usability issues or design flaws before it’s too late. If an idea or
design is destined for failure, you’d rather find out in the early stages.
Prototypes enable you to fail early and cheaply; they’ll expose a weak or
unsuitable approach before you’ve invested too much time or money.
• Make informed design decisions. Can’t decide where a certain button should
go on your app home screen? Torn between two different layouts for your
website? Test a few versions in the form of prototypes and see which works
best.

68. Different kinds of prototypes
Prototypes can vary in terms of their form, fidelity, interactivity, and lifecycle:
• Form: Is it a hand-drawn prototype, or a digital one? Is it for mobile or
desktop?
• Fidelity: How detailed and polished is the prototype? You’ll often hear the
terms high-fidelity and low-fidelity in relation to prototypes.
• Interactivity: How functional is the prototype? Can the user click on it or
interact with it, or is it view-only?
• Lifecycle: Is the prototype a quick, disposable version that will be replaced
with a new and improved version? Or is it a more enduring creation that can
be built and improved upon, potentially ending up as the final product?

69. Concurrent Design
• Concurrent design is a method of designing and developing in which
different departments simultaneously work on the different stages of
product development. If managed well, it helps to increase the
efficiency of product development and marketing, considerably
reducing the time and contributing to the reduction of the overall
development cost while improving the final product quality.

71. Concurrent Design
• This streamlined approach towards an product forces several teams
within the organisation, such as product design, manufacturing,
production, marketing, product support, finance, etc., to work
simultaneously on new product development.
• For instance, while product designers begin to design the product, the
sales team can start working on the marketing, and the product
support department can start thinking about the after-sale support.

72. DFMA
• Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) is a design approach
that focuses on ease of manufacture and efficiency of assembly. By
optimising the design of a product it is possible to manufacture and
assemble it more efficiently, more quickly, more safely and at a lower
cost.
• Traditionally, DFMA has been used in sectors such as the automotive
industry and for consumer products, both of which need to produce
high quality products in large numbers.

73. • Design for Manufacture and Assembly combines two primary
methodologies
– Design for Manufacture (DFM) and
– Design for Assembly (DFA)
• Design for Manufacture (DFM)
Design for Manufacture involves designing for the ease of manufacture of a
product’s constituent parts. It is concerned with selecting the most cost-
effective materials and processes to be used in production, and minimising the
complexity of the manufacturing operations.

74. • Design for Assembly (DFA)
Design for Assembly involves designing for a product’s ease of assembly. It is
concerned with reducing the product assembly cost and minimising the
number of assembly operations.
• Both DFM and DFA seek to optimise design while reducing materials,
overheads, and labour costs.

75. Principles of DFMA
• Minimise the number of components, and in so doing, reducing
assembly and ordering costs, reducing work-in-process, and
simplifying automation.
• Design for ease of part-fabrication. - simplifying the geometry of parts
and avoiding unnecessary features.
• Tolerances - parts should be designed to be within process capability.
• Clarity - components should be designed so they can only be
assembled in one way.

76. Principles of DFMA
• Minimise the use of flexible components - parts made of rubber,
gaskets, cables and so on, should be limited as handling and
assembly is generally more difficult.
• Design for ease of assembly - for example, the use of snap-fits and
adhesive bonding rather than threaded fasteners such as nuts and
bolts. Where possible a product should be designed with a base
component for locating other components quickly and accurately.
• Eliminate or reduce required adjustments - designing adjustments into
a product means there are more opportunities for out-of-adjustment
conditions to arise.

77. SERVICE DESIGN
• Service refers to an act, something that is done for the
customers.
• Service design begins with the choice of a service
strategy, which determines and focuson the service , and
the target market.

78. PHASES IN THE SERVICE DESIGN PROCESS
• Service blue printing- a method used in a service design to describe and
analyse a proposed service.
• Characteristics of well-designed service system
– Being consistent with the organization mission.
– Being user friendly.
– Being robust of variability is a factor.
– Being easy to sustain.
– Being cost- effective.
• Challenges of service design- service design presents some special
challenges that are less likely to be encountered in product design, in part,
because service design also involves design of the delivery system.

79. Types of Production system is grouped under two categories :
1. Intermittent Production System
2. Continuous Production System

80.  Intermittent means something that starts (initiates) and stops (halts) at irregular
(unfixed) intervals (time gaps).
 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 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 according to the design and size
of the product. Therefore, this system is very flexible
Intermittent Production System

82. 1. Project Production Flow
2. Job Production Flow
3. Batch Production Flow

83. 1. 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.

84. 2. Job production flows
Here, in job 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.

85. 3. Batch production flows
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.

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

88. 1. Mass Production Flows
2. Process Production Flows

89. 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.

90. 2. 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.

91. Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS)
• An FMS is a “reprogrammable” manufacturing system capable of producing a variety of products
automatically. Conventional manufacturing systems have been marked by one of two distinct
features:
– The capability of producing a variety of different product types, but at a high cost (e.g., job
shops).
– The capability of producing large volumes of a product at a lower cost, but very inflexible in
terms of the product types which can be produced (e.g., transfer lines).
• An FMS is designed to provide both of these features.

92. FMS Components
• Numerical Control (NC) machine tools
• Automated material handling system (AMHS)
– Automated guided vehicles (AGV)
– Conveyors
– Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS)
• Industrial Robots
• Control Software

93. 93