Production processes Flashcards
What is meant by operations management and production?
Operations management refers to all the activities in managing the transformation process.
Production takes inputs and turns them into outputs and delivers these to the customer.
What is job production?
Supplying a product to meet the exact requirements of the customer, e.g. tailor, artists.
What is flow production?
Occurs when an item moves continuously from one stage of the process to another, e.g. newspapers, bottles
What is lean production?
An approach to production that aims to minimise waste includes JIT and Kaizen approaches.
What is just-in-time (JIT)?
Items are ordered when they’re needed to be used.
What is Kaizen?
Continuous improvement to achieve change from small steps
How does lean production affect employees?
- Have good employee relations - any disruption stops production (strike)
- Kaizen requires employees to find better ways of doing things - motivated staff
- Quality assurance to check quality throughout the production process - needs training to do this
What are the different forms of waste in a business?
- Production > demand items thrown away
- Time
- Faulty products
- Holding stock
How can one business be more efficient than another?
- Machinery/technology - expensive to purchase
- Motivated workers
- Minimum waste
- Specialisation
What is efficiency?
Refers to how well a business is using its resources to produce.
If a business uses a lot of inputs compared to a business which uses less inputs to produce the same output then they would be inefficient and vice versa.
Calculated by looking at unit costs.
What factors will affect the efficiency of a business?
- How well employees are managed - better managed/more motivated - lower unit costs
- How good suppliers are - reliable and provide good quality - helps to lower costs
- Investment in machinery and technology
- The way in which products are produced - production methods
