Overview of Manufacturing Processes

Manufacturers are companies who produce and distribute products. They typically have at least one manufacturing facility, one warehouse or distribution point, and ship products either directly to the customer or through a wholesale distribution network. It has integrated and successful operations across multiple functional areas.

Manufacturers typically fall into the following production strategies.

• Build to stock – where finished goods are pre-built based on their forecast or min/max and readily available to satisfy sales orders.
• Make to order -where  components of the finished goods are readily available, and 

Finished goods are only built to satisfy firm demand from a customer.

• Assemble to order – where subassemblies of finished goods are pre-built and readily available to be assembled to satisfy firm demand from a customer.
• Configure to order – finished goods are made up of standard components and subassemblies, but have interchangeable parts, the selection of which are driven by customer specifications.
• Engineer to order – where finished product is entirely designed, engineered, and built to the customer’s specifications.

Five modes of Manufacturings

1. Discrete – which is manufacturing of finished goods that are distinct items and can easily be counted. In theory, a discrete product can be broken down at the end of its life cycle so its basic components can be recycled.
2. Process, or batch, – where a product is made in standard batch quantities. It typically uses a recipe driven bill of material.
3. Repetitive – where dedicated machines or production lines which produce the same or similar products are created 24 by 7. It may use releases to an order for production.
4. Process(Continuous) –  continuous process, like repetitive, but deals with gaseous or liquid materials.
5. Lean – emphasizes the minimization of the amount of all resources, including time. Used in the various activities on the shop floor. It involves identifying and eliminating non-value added activities in design, production, and supply chain management.