Manufacturing | Flow | Intermittent | Engineer to Order | Make To Order | Assemble to Order

Manufacturing process

It is a collection of technologies and methods used to define how products are to be manufactured.

Flow manufacturing:

Flow manufacturing is concerned with the production of high-volume standard products.

There are four major characteristics to flow manufacturing:

Routings are fixed, and work centre are arranged according to the routing. The time taken to perform work on one work canter is almost the same as at any other work canter in the line.
Work canters are dedicated to producing a limited range of comparable similar products.
Machinery and tools are especially designed to produce the specific products.
Material flows from one workstation to other using some form of mechanical transfer. There is little build up in work-in-process inventory, and throughput times are low.
Capacity is fixed by the line.

Intermittent manufacturing:

Intermittent manufacturing is characterized by many variations in product design, process requirements, and order quantities.

This kind of manufacturing is characterized by the following:

Throughput times are generally long. Work-in process inventory is often large.
The capacity required depends on the actual mix of products being built and is difficult to predict.

Manufacturing Strategies:-

Engineer to Order:

Engineer-to-order means that the customer’s specifications require unique engineering design or significant customization. Usually the customer is highly involved in the product design. Inventory will not normally be purchased until needed by manufacturing. Delivery lead time is long because it includes not only purchase lead time but design lead time as well.

Examples - power plant boilers, electrical switchgear, commercial HVAC equipment, industrial cranes, and specialty vehicles like fire trucks.

Make To Order:

Make-to-order means that the manufacturer does not start to make the product until a customer’s order is received. The final product is usually made from standard items but may include customdesigned components as well. Delivery lead time is reduced because there is little design time required and inventory is held as raw material.

Examples: Aircrafts, Bmw car manufacture.

Assemble to Order:

Assemble-to-order means that the product is made from standard components that the manufacturer can inventory and assemble according to a customer order. Delivery lead time is reduced further because there is no design time needed and inventory is held ready for assembly. Customer involvement in the design of the product is limited to selecting the component part options needed.

Examples: Bikes, Computers, etc.

Make To Stock :

Make-to-stock means that the supplier manufactures the goods and sells from finished goods inventory. Delivery lead time is shortest. The customer has little direct involvement in the product design.

Examples: Food & Beverages, cosmetics, etc.

Manufacturing Planning And Control System:

Manufacturing planning and control are responsible for the planning and control of the flow of materials through the manufacturing process. The primary activities carried out are as follows:

There are five major levels in the manufacturing planning and control (MPC) system:

• Strategic business plan.

• Production plan (sales and operations plan).

• Master production schedule.

• Material requirements plan.

• Purchasing and production activity control.