Manufacturing theories

Manufacturing is a process that is involved with almost everything we use in our lives. Many people say that manufacturing is what drives the economic structure of every society on earth regardless of what form of manufacture is used. There are many different approaches people take to manufacturing and many things to consider. Here is some information about some of the most important manufacturing theories.

To begin with, every company on the earth that produces something has their own manufacturing theory, but there are some general themes or categories that every business can fit into. The fact that each company produces something different in a different way and using different people, makes an individual theory for each company and even each factory.

One manufacturing theory that isn't used by many people anymore is called the craft or guild system. This system was used in the very earliest days of manufacturing and is considered old fashioned and inefficient today. But because of the craft and the value of something handmade, some companies are reverting to this way of producing their goods. This type of manufacture typically has a higher quality and higher prices than other types of manufacture.

Mass production is commonly thought of by many people to be a given of any manufacturing operation, but this isn't necessarily the case. This is a more general term that can be applied to other more specific types of manufacturing, but is also the basis for many systems. The idea of making more in less time with less money is a very important concept in manufacturing and economics in general.

Lean manufacturing is a term that many people are familiar and it is specifically aimed at reducing the amount of waste in the entire process. This includes material waste in the process of making the product, but also includes waste of time, space and other resources used in the manufacturing process, including effort. Many companies implement this idea into their manufacturing processes because of the belief that reducing waste automatically adds to the bottom line and allows for greater profits through efficiency.

Just in time manufacturing is a process that was made famous by the Toyota Company. The idea behind this method is to reduce the amount of inventory on hand to orders that have already been placed. Making a product when and only when it has been asked for puts more pressure on the efficiency of a manufacturing process, but also allows for less wasted time and effort in the process. This concept is generally applied to manufacture of larger things like automobiles, but some would even argue that it applies to the world of fast food. The idea that the product shouldn't be prepared or made until the order has actually been placed is very interesting.

Prefabrication is also another manufacturing theory that is commonly seen in the building of homes, buildings and other very large products. This became important because there have been so many architectural projects with very tight timelines that it was necessary to produce parts of the project off site and to simply assemble them in the final location. This was intended to cut down time in field for a project and to reduce the man hours needed on a project on site, which can become especially expensive with a very tight timeline. The idea has spread to prefabricated homes and other very large machines such as large construction vehicles. This theory only applies to certain industry sectors and doesn't really make sense all the time.

There have been many different theories developed to make manufacturing more productive and more efficient. This was only a glimpse into some of the most common and most prevalent today.

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