Scales of Production

Jobbing or One-off production.

This is for products that are one of a kind. Every item that is made is different.

This production is very labour intensive and requires highly skilled workers.

It takes a long time to produce these products and it is expensive.

Examples: made to measure furniture; wembley stadium 

Batch Production

This involves making a specific quantity of a product - a batch.

DUring production one process is done on the whole batch followed by another process on the whole batch etc.

This means it is quicker than jobbing production.

The machinery and labour need to flexible after a batch of a product has finished because a new product will need to be made next.

The time when the equipment is changing is called the 'down time' - this wastes money.

Batch production is not as efficient as mass production.

Eg. circuit boards for burglar alarms; sofas 

Mass Production

This is making thousands of an identical product. The product needs to be a  mass-market product (loads of people will want it).

The stages are broken down into simple repetitive tasks that people can easily learn. This is part of the assembly line. 

CAM and expensive specialist equipment is required eg injection moulding.

Recruitment is relatively easy because workers don't need to be highly skilled.

Eg. cars; TVs 

Continuous production

This production is highly automated and uses expensive machines that run 24/7.

It is continuous because it would be too expensive to keep stopping and restarting, especially if conditions need to be kept constant (eg temperature).

The equipment is very efficient.

Good for making bulk amounts of materials.

Eg. steel; sheet glass; synthetic fibres