Question

Process selection refers to the strategic decision of selecting which kind of production processes to use to produce a product or provide a service, and is usually based on the volume of production. The production process format selection can also be based on the general pattern of work flow; there are five structures (project layout; work center; manufacturing cell; assembly line; and continuous process). Summarize the similarities and differences between these five structures.

Answer 1

Production processes flow structure refers to how the factory organizes the materials flow using the process technologies. It may be an important component in a firm’s strategy for building competitive advantages.

The production flow can be broadly categorized in five structures as follows:

1. Project

2. Workcenter or job shop

3. Manufacturing cell layout

4. Assembly line and,

5. Continuous flow process

Comparison of Production process flow structure

	Project	Workcenter or job shop	Manufacturing cell layout	Assembly line	Continuous flow process
Flow	None ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Continuous
Flexibility	High --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Low
Capital Investment	Low ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> High
Variable cost	High --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Low
No. of products	High --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Low
Labor content	High --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Low
Labor Skills	High --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Low
Volume	Low --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> High

Project process

• Flow – no flow
• Flexibility – very high
• Capital Investment – very low
• Variable cost – very high
• Products – exclusive
• Labor content – very high  
• Labor Skills – very high
• Volume – single

In this layout, the product remains at the fixed location and it is suitable for unique products that are produced at a different time and there is no flow in this process since there is no flow of the products.

Workcenter process or Job shop

• Flow – mixed-up flow
• Flexibility – high
• Capital Investment – low
• Variable cost – high
• Products – numerous  
• Labor content – high
• Labor Skills – high
• Volume – low

The workcenter process is a flexible operation that has several activities and not all activities are performed on all the products. Similar machines and similar departments are grouped together and the sequence of activities is in line. The workcenter process is low in efficiency but high on flexibility and it highly relies on the knowledge and skills of the workers.

Manufacturing cell layout

• Flow – discontinued but sometimes dominant flows  
• Flexibility – moderate
• Capital Investment – moderate
• Variable cost – moderate
• Products – several
• Labor content – moderate
• Labor Skills – moderate
• Volume – moderate

The manufacturing cell layout works best where different products with similar processing requirements are produced and all the machines and tools are set up for the family of the products and products are produced in batches. It executes a different production process for different products but the disadvantage is it requires some setup time to change from one product to other products

Assembly line Process

• Flow – continued and connected lines
• Flexibility – low
• Capital Investment – high
• Variable cost – low
• Products – few and selected
• Labor content – low
• Labor Skills – low
• Volume – high

Like the manufacturing cell layout, the assembly line works in a fixed sequence, but all the processes and activities are connected in the lines and all the products require the same process and machine requirements.

Continuous flow Process

• Flow – Continuous
• Flexibility – very low
• Capital Investment – very high
• Variable cost – very low
• Products – one
• Labor content – low
• Labor Skills – low, but skilled
• Volume – very high

Like the assembly line the continuous flow has fixed sequence and fixed activities for the products, it follows the predetermined sequence and steps with the continuous flow rather than being processed in discontinued steps. The labor content and required skills are low but required some skills to process and oversee the sophisticated equipment.