Scale of production

One-off - Referred to as job production and relates to 'tailor-made', bespoke or customised solutions. A key feature is a single, often high-cost product that is manufactured to a client's specification. This kind of one-off product may be relatively high-cost payment for unique features, more expensive or exclusive materials and time-consuming handcrafted production.

Batch - Involves manufacture of products in specified, predetermined 'batches', which can vary from 10's to 1000's. A key feature is flexibility of tooling, machinery and workforce to enable a fast turnaround, so production can be quickly adapted to manufacture a different product, depending on demand. Batch production often makes use of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) to enable…