What are the Different Types of Manufacturing Equipment?

The production type is a type divided by the degree of continuity of the technical process of the production of industrial products or the degree of repetition of the production products. According to the degree of continuity of the industrial product production technology process, it can be divided into continuous production and intermittent production. The continuous production process has a high degree of continuity, and no interruption is allowed. Generally, there are no products in progress, semi-finished products and other intermediate products, such as power generation, chemical industry, smelting production, etc. The process and technology of discontinuous production can be carried out intermittently in stages. The entire production process of a product can be completed by one enterprise alone or by the collaboration of several enterprises. Generally, a certain work in process and semi-finished product reserves are required in the production process, such as Production of machinery and electrical products. ^[1]

Production type

According to production industry characteristics

According to the industrial characteristics of the production object in the production process, the industry can be divided into continuous production and discrete production. In a continuous production process,

How to judge a company, a workshop in a company, or a worker in a workshop according to the division mark

Different production types affect the production and management of enterprises and various

Production type designed by order

1. Design to order (Engineer To Order, ETO) or design to project (Engineer To Project) Under this type of production, a product is largely designed according to the requirements of a particular customer, so Supporting customized designs is an important function and component of this production process. Because the vast majority of products are tailored to specific customers, these products may be produced only once and will not be repeated in the future. In this type of production, the production volume of the product is small, but the design work and the final product are often very complicated. In the production process, each job must be handled specially, because each job is different, there may be different operations, different costs, and different people need to complete. Of course, some frequently used, and larger batches, such as raw materials, can be excluded.

The order-to-order (project) production type is the most complicated of the six production types, and it includes all links from the design of the customer's product request to the delivery of the final product to the customer, so it also has very high requirements for ERP software . The ERP application software used in this industry has the following requirements in terms of main modules and capabilities: it must have highly complex product configuration functions, be able to support effective parallel production, support subcontract manufacturing, have workshop control and cost management functions, and advanced Process management and tracking functions, multi-plant scheduling functions, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD / CAM), integration functions, and limited scheduling functions.

Production type assembled to order

2. Assemble To Order (ATO) or Make To Order

In this type of production, customers give requirements for certain configurations of parts or products, and manufacturers provide products customized for customers according to customer requirements. Therefore, the manufacturer must maintain a certain amount of parts inventory so that when the customer order arrives, the product can be quickly assembled according to the order and sent to the customer. To this end, some types of configuration systems need to be applied in order to quickly obtain and process order data information, and then organize the production assembly of the products to meet customer needs. Manufacturers must have different components and multiple flexible assembly workshops in order to assemble a wide variety of products in the shortest possible time. Products produced under this type of production are: personal computers and workstations, telephones, engines, house windows and doors, office furniture, automobiles, certain types of mechanical products, and more and more consumer goods. ERP software that meets this type of production must have the following key modules: Production Configuration, subcontracted production, shop floor management and cost control, advanced process management and tracking functions, distribution and inventory management, multi-plant scheduling, Design interfaces, and integrate modules.

Production Type Make- to-Stock

3. Make-to-Stock ( MTS )

In the make-to-stock production type, customers basically have no suggestions or requirements for determining the final product specifications, and their investment is very small. Manufacturers produce products that are not customized for any particular customer. However, the batch size of the product when it is produced in stock is not as large as the typical repeated production. Usually, the bill of materials for this type of production system has only one layer, and the production batch is standardized, so a standardized cost can be calculated. The actual cost can be compared with the standard cost, and the comparison result can be used for production management. Typical products that fall into the inventory type are: furniture, filing cabinets, small quantities of consumer goods, and certain industrial equipment. The make-to-stock production type is a typical production type that most MRPII systems handle when they are originally designed, so basically no special module is needed to handle it.

Production type repeat production

4. Repetitive

Repetitive production, also known as mass production, is the type of production that produces large quantities of standardized products. Manufacturers may be responsible for the raw materials for the entire product line, and track and record the use of raw materials on the production line. In addition, manufacturers must pay attention to quality issues for a long period of time to avoid the gradual degradation of the quality of a certain type of product. Although in the continuous production process, various costs, such as raw material costs and machine costs, overlap, it is difficult to clearly distinguish them, but for management needs, they are still clearly divided.

Repetitive production types often use Backflush to calculate raw material usage. The so-called backflushing method is to deduct the quantity of parts or raw materials used for the assembly or subassembly from the inventory by expanding the bill of materials according to the output of the produced assembly. It is based on calculated averages, not actual values. Repetitive production types require planned production batches with appropriate intervals to allow repairs to certain equipment.

Products belonging to the type of repetitive production are: pens, devices for fixing items (such as zippers), tires, paper products, and most consumer products. The ERP system suitable for the type of repetitive production needs to have the following key modules or functions: repetitive production, backflush management of raw materials, advanced inventory management, tracking management and electronic data interchange (EDI). In addition, those companies producing health and safety products have higher requirements, and may need to comprehensively track and manage information such as raw material sources, raw material use, and product buyers.

Production type

5. Batch Production In batch production types, products that are in the initial stages of the life cycle may vary significantly. In purely discrete production, the product is processed according to the bill of materials assembly, while in the mass production type, the product is manufactured according to a set of formulas or bills of materials. Product recipes may change due to equipment, raw materials, initial conditions, etc. In addition, the composition and chemical properties of raw materials can vary widely, so a different set of formulas must be used to make a product. Moreover, the manufacturing method of subsequent products often depends on how the previous products were made. After multiple series production, it may switch to repeat production type. Typical products for mass production are: medicine, food and beverage, paint. ERP systems suitable for this type of production must have laboratory management capabilities and the ability to allow changes in the product's manufacturing process and the raw materials used. The key modules are: co-products and by-products, continuous production, recipe management, maintenance, marketing planning, multi-measurement units, quality and laboratory information management systems.

6.Continuous production

Continuous production

In the continuous production type, the production of a single product never stops, and the machinery and equipment are always running. Continuously produced products are generally raw materials for other factories within the enterprise. The product is largely uncustomized. Such products are mainly: petrochemical products, steel, and initial paper products. The key modules of ERP systems suitable for continuous production are: co-products and by-products, continuous production, recipe management, maintenance, and multiple units of measurement.