Process Technology

It refers to the equipment,

people and systems used to
produce a firm’s products and
services.

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Production Process Structures
 Flow Processes
 Job-shop Processes
 Cellular Processes
 Project Processes

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Selection of a process structure
 Expected volume & demand pattern
for products
 No. of products to be made & types
of processing each requires
 Made to stock or Made to order
 Physical characteristics & specific
technologies required
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 Flow Processes
To structure the process according to
the “flow” of the products or
sequence of tasks that must be
performed to make them.
Work Stations
Product Out-
Flow
1 2 3 4 5
put

Materials
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Flow Processes
 Continuous Flow Process
-- Paper manufacturing
 Repetitive or Discrete Flow Process
-- Automobile assembling
 Disconnected or Batch Flow Process
-- Book manufacturing

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Continuous Flow Process
 Primarily used in process industries
 Designed to produce large volumes of
a small variety of uniform products
 Processing subject to very strict
specifications
 Highly interconnected structure

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Continuous Flow Process
 Used for some aspects of
production process for discrete
products
 Very capital intensive
 Highly automated and computerized
 Low: direct labor costs & per unit
production costs
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 Repetitive Flow Process
 Often called Line process or discrete
flow process
 Common version is an assembly line
 Large quantities of narrow range of
products
 Fixed sequence of production tasks
 Use of specialized equipment
 Greater Automation
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Repetitive Flow Process:
Problems
 Decomposing
 Assigning and combining
 Accommodating
 Adjusting to variation & uncertainties

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Advantages: Continuous &
Repetitive Flow Process
 Equipment can be specialized
 Jobs can be specialized
 Material handling can be simplified
 W-I-P inventories are small
 Space utilization is efficient
 Quality conformance is easier to
achieve
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Advantages
 Production scheduling and
coordination are relatively easy
 Costs are easy to monitor

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Disadvantages
 Inflexible
 High initial costs
 Work can become tedious and boring
 Production system is extremely
vulnerable

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 Batch Flow Process
 Also called disconnected flow process
 Produce a variety of products in
different volumes
 Use special equipment and jobs at each
workstation
 Variation in processing times & batch
sizes
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Batch Flow Process
 Material handling depends on
standard operations, & there is W-I-P
inventory
 Trade-off between flexibility and
efficiency

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Batch Flow Process
 Adv: Flexibility, Low Cost, High
Capacity Utilization, Staff
advantages.
 Disadv: Expensive for high volumes,
Idling of resources, Large in-process
inventory, Costly material handling
equipments, Requires more space.
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Job-Shop Process
 Produce small quantity of a wide
variety of products
 Systems divided into work centers or
departments that are organized
around common activities.
 Products can move among work
centers in any sequence providing
maximum flexibility.
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Advantages: Job-shop Process
 Production Flexibility
 Ability to accommodate different
processing times & lot sizes
 Low initial costs for general purpose
equipment
 Greater work satisfaction because of
variety of work performed.
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Disadvantages: Job-shop
Process
 General purpose equipment usually less
efficient
 More skilled, higher paid employees
needed
 Less efficient but more flexible
material-handling methods
 W-I-P inventories are needed for
keeping work centers operating & for
scheduling flexibility.
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Disadvantages: Job-Shop
Process
 Require more space
 Quality conformance is difficult
 Variability makes scheduling and
coordinating very complex
 Long throughput times
 Difficult to determine profitability of
individual product.
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 Why Job-Shop?
 Variety or volume of products
produced make the use of flow process
impractical. (companies competing
through product customization)
 Startup costs of making new products
in small quantities are normally much
less.
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 Cellular Process
 A mixture of mini flow processes, called
work cells, & a job-shop operation.
 Dividing products that require similar
processing steps in the same sequence.
 Work cell created to perform the steps
in the designated sequence for all the
products.
 “Remainder” job-shop subsystem (cell).
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Cellular Process
 Most commonly used as substitutes
for job-shop that need increased
productivity.
 Used in place of flow processes to
obtain greater flexibility.
 A popular way to organize service
operations.
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Advantages: Cellular Process
 Material handling & transport are
reduced.
 Setup times are reduced.
 Throughput time is reduced.
 In-process inventories are smaller.
 Less space is needed.

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Advantages: Cellular Process
 Total equipment costs often
decrease.
 Workers enjoy more satisfaction.
 Quality improves.

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Disadvantages: Cellular
Process
Successful implementation requires
considerable amount of work &
expertise to:
 Characterize & Classify products
 Design appropriate work cells

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 Project Processes
 Short life-cycle with a definite
beginning and a definite end.
 Producing one-of-a-kind products
 Likely to utilize similar skills and
equipment.
 The process itself has to be
customized.
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 Project Processes
 Manpower deployment: tricky
 Matrix form of organization is suitable
when multiple projects are being
handled.
 Interdependent activities
 Adv: Flexibility to customize the
product.
 Dis adv: Expense.
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 List of Projects
 Setting up a Nuclear Power Plant
 Launching a new product in the market
 Conducting an EDP like Finance for non-finance
executives
 Organizing an Annual Sales Conference
 Computerization of Inventory
 Building a modern hospital or stadium
 Modernization of outdated textile mills
 Community development projects
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Dominant Operations
Management Issues:
 How to coordinate the wide variety of
resources that are needed for the
current project, as well as for other
projects of the organization?
 How to complete the project on
schedule and within budget?

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 Types of Non-Manufacturing
operations (Service)
1. On the basis of process performed:
 Standard Service
 Custom Service
2. On the basis of product dealt:
 Providers of tangible products
 Providers of service
3. Participation of customer in the
process
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Challenges of Service
Operations
 Not easy to measure productivity
 Difficult to establish quality
standards
 Service providers generally have
contact with customers
 Cannot maintain inventory

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CAD/CAM Systems
 Systems integrated with computer-
controlled machines
 Once a product or part design has
been completed on the CAD system, it
can be automatically encoded as
machine instructions for computer-
controlled machines.
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Advantages: CAD Systems
 Saves:
 Considerable time
 Cost of hand-programming the
machine
 Reduces chances of errors.

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Flexible Manufacturing
Systems (FMS)
 Self-contained systems of computer-
controlled machines, a tool-changing
system, and a material-handling
system.
 Vary widely in their complexity and
capabilities.

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Advantages: FMS
 Flexibility
 Cost and time reductions
 Better material handling
 Minimal in-process waiting
 Quicker machine setups
 Smaller quantities at lower cost
 Firms can respond to demand
fluctuations more quickly.
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Disadvantages: FMS
 Expensive
 Requires considerable expertise
and planning to implement
successfully.

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 Computer-integrated
manufacturing (CIM)
 Tie all the database systems and all
the manufacturing equipment &
subsystems together into a single
integrated system.
 Control and coordinate every phase of
production, from initial order receipt
to shipment and billing.
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CIM examples
 Motorola, Texas Instruments,
Toshiba, & others have greatly
integrated their design, sales,
scheduling, manufacturing,
purchasing, and accounting
systems.

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