Production Decisions Businesses example essay topic

Business notes- operating system. Production Production takes place when resources such as raw materials, are changed in to products. Today in production is often to more generally as those activities that bring a product in to being. Features of production Production takes place when a business takes inputs, carries out a process and produces an output, which is the product... Input is the raw material used by the business...

Process is the methods used to convert the raw materials in to a product... Outputs are the products or services that you get at the end. Planning and controlling the production Planning: all the businesses need to plan the production. Some firms first employee the people for this particular task to be done. A no. of factors influence the plan: - Demand from customers.

Business get orders from different customers, for different products, with different specifications at different times. A business has to pan which order should go first. Planning must be done to assure that there are enough recourses for the product or service to be made. There are processes in which the production has to be carried out... Loading: - this involves which work centre will carry out which task... Sequencing: - production usually involves an arranging task and processes in a sequence.

For many products the order of task don't change very often... Scheduling: - the production will show time when particular tasks and processes are to be done, for e.g. when they start and finish! Dispatching: - this involves giving instructions about the tasks to be carried out for a particular period... Progressing: - this is an ongoing process. It requires supervisors, teams or managers reporting on the progress of the job. Production decisions Businesses make a number of important production decisions.

A clothing manufacture may for e.g. may decide to produce a new range of trousers. This could involve using a new type of clothing, changing the layout of the factory. What to produce? A business has to decide what product us ants to produce. The product could be a new product that no other businesses have produced yet. What production methods should be used?

Businesses choose how best to make their products. Different businesses might use different production methods, even when they are making the same product. Where production should be located? Businesses should decide where best to locate their businesses. Generally it is a place where the cost are low and cheap. Some times they locate it near to their home sp it is easy to access.

How large does the business have to be? -most business start off small and then grow. There are many advantages of growing after you have started your business as then it is affected by the economy of scale. Methods of production What production methods should be used? Production is some times divided in to three methods. JOB PRODUCTION: - is where one job is completed at a time before moving on to another one.

For e.g. a costume being made for a play. BATCH PRODUCTION: - involves dividing the work in to a number of different operations. For e.g. a bread production where each batch goes in to several different stages before it is completed. FLOW PRODUCTION: - involves work being completed continuously without stopping. e.g. the production of cars on a production line.

JOB PRODUCTION Job production involves a production of single product at a time. It is used when orders for products are small, such as one off. Production is organised so that one job is completed at one time. There is a vast variety of goods and services which are produced using this method.

Job production is found in both manufacturing and service industries. Advantage Disadvantage The firms can produce unique or one off orders according to customer needs. Labour cost will be high because production tends to be labour intensive. The workforce is likely to be skilled and versatile. Workers are more likely to be motivated. The tasks employee carries out often requires a variety of skills.

Selling cost may also be high. This is likely if the product is high complex and technical. The sale team needs to be qualified. BATCH PRODUCTION Batch production is usually used when the business knows that their company needs a regular line of production and not a one off thing. A great number of products are made using this method especially in manufacturing. Advantages of batch production.

There is a good flexibility, even though there is a big quantity. The setting on the machines can be changed according to the businesses specification, such as different cloth sizes... It often results in stock of partly finished goods, which have to be stored. This is a good in a way that the business can respond better during a urgent order. Disadvantages of batch production. Careful planning and co-ordination is needed, or machines and workers may be idle, waiting for a whole batch to finished its operations...

Doing the same old process again and again may less motivate the workers... Some of the machinery is complex which would require training and therefore there would be a higher salary for the employees that are working. FLOW PRODUCTION In flow production, the production is organised in a way that different operations can be carried out, one after the other at a continuous sequence. The main features of using flow production is: - Large quantities can be made in less time A simplifies product Large amounts of machinery and equipment Large stocks of raw material Flow production is used in the manufacturing of products as varied as newspapers, food or cement. Advantages of flow production.

In many industries the process is highly automated. Production is controlled by computers. Robots and other types of new technology machinery perform many of the operations... The production line can respond to short term changes in demand.

Foe e.g. if the demand falls the line can be shut down for a period of time. Disadvantages of flow production. The set up cost is very high. An enormous investment in plant and equipment is needed. Firms must therefore be confident that the demand of the product will not decrease... Break downs can prove costly.

The whole production system is interdependent... Most of the manual work is very boring and de-motivates the staff. Choice of production method The method of production chosen might depend on a number of factors... The size of the market... The nature of the product (many products require specific methods). Technology LEAN PRODUCTION LEAN PRODUCTION is an approach to production developed in japan.

Its aim is to reduce the quantit.