Methods of Production Flashcards

All 15 cards in this deck

What is job production?

Making individual products one at a time to meet a specific customer's needs.

What is batch production?

Making one group of identical products at a time before switching to produce the next group.

What is flow production?

Continuously making identical, standardised products on an assembly line.

Give one advantage of job production.

Any one of: each product is made to the customer's exact requirements; customers pay more for a one-off item, so profit margins are high.

Give one disadvantage of job production.

Any one of: it needs highly skilled workers, which raises labour costs; each item takes a long time to make, so output is low.

Give one advantage of batch production.

Any one of: the business can switch between versions of a product, such as sizes or flavours; it makes more units than job production, so unit costs are lower.

Give one disadvantage of batch production.

Machines must be stopped and reset or cleaned between batches, so no output is made during the changeover and productivity falls.

Give one benefit of flow production for a business's costs and prices.

It raises the rate of production, so the average cost of each unit falls and the business can cut its price to gain a competitive advantage.

True or false? Flow production is more flexible than job production.

False. Flow production makes a standardised product, so it is difficult to make different versions to meet individual customer needs.

What are the three production processes?

Job, batch and flow production.

True or false? Flow production is cheap to set up.

False. Flow production is very expensive to set up because it needs a lot of machinery, though unit costs are then low.

Why does flow production need a high level of demand?

The production line needs a large investment in machinery, so the business must sell large quantities to cover the cost.

Give one disadvantage of flow production other than its set-up cost.

Any one of: a breakdown or strike at one point can stop the whole line; jobs are repetitive and boring, which can demotivate workers; large stocks of materials must be held to keep the line supplied.

Give one disadvantage of batch production other than the time lost changing over between batches.

Any one of: stocks of materials must be held so production can switch, tying up cash and adding storage costs; work can be repetitive and boring; customers get less choice than with job production.

Why might workers find job production more satisfying than flow production?

They work on a product from start to finish, which gives more satisfaction than repeating one small task.