production
three types of production
Flow production – e.g for engines
batch production – e.g for different types of bumper trims (SRi, SXi)
Job production e.g – specific paint colour which isn’t standard
Productivity:
Productivity – output per worker. Measures how much each worker
produces over a period of time
Equation – total output(in a time period) / number of employees
e.g – 100 products made a year
100 workers
1 per worker
How to improve productivity:
Specialisation
Motivation
More capital intensive
Training
Efficiency:
Efficiency is about making the best use of all resources a business has
The more efficient the business is the lower the unit costs.
Equation: Unit cost = total cost / total output
How to improve efficiency:
Outsourcing
Relocating
Investing in new tech
Lean production
Lean Production: Refers to using as few resources as possible in
production (e.g. less storage, space, materials, stock, suppliers, time – by
using kaizen, JIT)
Economies of scale: Refers to lower production costs as a business increases the
amount it produces and sells
Extract c
Batch production is the production of different products using the same
resources. This would be a benefit to Whitakers manufacturing chocolate
as they can produce different flavours of chocolate. This is because,
“achieving ... customer changing tastes and preferences”. This can be
achieved by Whitakers using different machines to produce different
flavours of chocolate. This would be a benefit as it is more efficient and
would meet customer demands. Another benefit of Whitakers using batch
production to produce different chocolates is that if a customer has an
allergy to an ingredient, they will not get affected as different machines
would be used to produce the chocolate. This is because by using different
machines it would meet the “global food standard”. This would be a
benefit to Whitakers as the ingredient that some customers would be
allergic to won’t be cross contaminated due to the chocolate being made
in separate machines.
However, this can come with drawbacks, one being that it would be costly
to have many machines for many different flavours of chocolate. This is
because, “customer changing tastes and preferences.” This could be a
drawback as it can be costly to maintain many machines for many
flavours of chocolate due to cleaning during non-production hours. This is
a drawback as it would pull them back from making more profit which
limits their availability to reinvest back into their business to grow.
Another drawback that can affect Whitakers manufacturing chocolate is
the risk of contamination. This is because if they don’t pass the “quality
assurance … British retail consortium global food standard.”. this can lead
to Whitakers having to make sure none of their machines are not clean
and if they are not, it can damage their reputation. This can lead to them
having less customers due to bad reputation built up from silly mistakes
limiting them from growing as a business.
Overall, I think Whitakers using batch production is a good idea but they
should consider ensuring their machines are clean between each
production of chocolate batches to ensure no contamination is spread.
Flow production is when products are created in continuous movement
where they are created in stages. One benefit of jaguar using flow
production is that it has allowed jaguar to cut down costs. This is because,
“jaguar streamlined, its production methods operations and processes.
This has enabled them to compete globally and retain quality yet cut
down costs.” This is a benefit as the extra money they save on this
method of flow production will allow them to reinvest into development
into better car engines that can run the car smoother. This will lead to
jaguar overall growing on the market they currently operate in and
possibly make more sales with that investment.
However, the drawback of jaguar using flow production is that employee
motivation maybe low due to the constant repetition in their work. This is
because, the “1100 new jobs” created will be used to run the flow
production of their cars in which employees will be doing the same
process of the stage their working on multiple times a day. This will lower
employee motivation and could potentially make the quality of the car
worsen due to the lack of effort the employees would have when making
these jaguars. This would lead to less sales due to the poor quality and
jaguar losing their market share they currently operate in.