Types of Processes
Projects
Projects represent one-of-a-kind production for an individual customer. They tend to
involve large sums of money and last a considerable length of time. For those reasons,
customers are few and customer involvement intense. Customers are heavily involved
in the design of the product and may also specify how certain processes are to be carried
out. In some cases, the customer will have representatives on site to observe the
production process, or send in inspectors to certify quality at critical stages of project
development.
Most companies do not have the resources (or time) to complete all the work on a
project themselves, so subcontracting is common. The production process, as well as
the final product, are basically designed anew for each customer order. Thus, the
process is very flexible. And given the lengthy duration of a project, changes in
customer preferences, technology, and costs cause frequent adjustments in product and
process design. Managing these engineering change orders (ECO) is a major concern in
project management. Another concern is keeping track of all the activities that are
taking place and making sure they are completed correctly and on time, so as not to
delay other activities.
Cutting-edge technology, project teams, and close customer contact make project work
exciting. But projects can also be risky with their large investment in resources, huge
swings in resource requirements (as new projects begin and old ones end), limited
learning curve, and dependence on a small customer base.
Examples of projects include constructing a building, airplane, or ship; planning a rock
concert; and developing a new product. Projects are managed very differently from
other types of processes.
Batch Production
Making products one-at-a-time and treating their production as a project can be time
consuming and cost-prohibitive. Most products can be made more quickly and more
efficiently in volume. A production system that processes items in small groups or
batches is called batch production. Batch production is characterized by fluctuating
demand, short production runs of a wide variety of products, and small to moderate
quantities of any given product made to customer order.
Most of the operations in batch production involve fabrication (e.g., machining) rather
than assembly. Jobs are sent through the system based on their processing requirements,
so that those jobs requiring lathe work are sent to one location, those requiring painting
to another, and so forth. A job may be routed through many different machine centers
before it is completed. If you were to track the flow of a particular customer order
through the system, you would see a lot of stopping and starting as jobs queue at
different machines, waiting to be processed. Work on a particular product is not
continuous; it is intermittent.
Batch production systems are also known as job shops. Examples include machine
shops, printers, bakeries, education, and furniture making. Advantages of this type of
