Pro & Cons of Process Manufacturing

Manufacturers rise or fall based on their efficiency. If they can produce greater volumes at lower price than their rivals, manufacturers tend to do pretty well.

If your firm is engaged in bulk production, you are probably always seeking ways to do so efficiently. One of the best ways to do so is by adopting process manufacturing to standardise and automate much of your production line, but it’s not for everyone. Here are some of the benefits as well as reasons to think twice before you decide to revolutionise your production line.

Produce Large Quantities at Lower Cost

Instead of producing items by hand, or assembling complex individual products that require many different parts, process manufacturers tend to produce goods in bulk that can be manufactured without large amounts of human labour. The end result of a well implemented production line is lower labour costs, greater efficiency and higher profit margins.

Simplify Your Product Base

Process manufacturing is all about making things as simple as possible without affecting quality. When you set up a process, everything has to be converted into a “recipe” or formulation definition that can be digested and used by your production line to turn out standardised products. With an automated production line that uses templates to govern its processes, human error is reduced and any errors can be monitored, logged and traced. With the right software and staff in place, making any necessary adjustments is simple.

Make Allocating Costs Much Easier

One of the great benefits of process based systems is that they allow for rational management of every part of the production line. This allows firms to allocate their resources to exactly where they are required, at precisely the right time. Being able to see everything as a vertical process also makes it easier for managers to visualise how to make changes when they are needed, and they can also harvest data from different points in the process to inform their decisions. 

Solve Your Inventory Management Worries

Inventory can make or break small and medium sized manufacturers. If your inventory breaks down, raw materials for production can seize up and products destined for delivery to customers can fail to materialise, leading to recurrent crises. With processes in place to govern your manufacturing effort, you can keep tabs on stock levels and see at a glance whether your inventory is running smoothly – a huge help to managers and staff on the factory floor.

Improve Communication and Improve Staff Morale

When the processes that determine production quantities and procedures are clear, staff know exactly what they need to do, and managers can grade their performance accordingly. Slick communication processes also allow staff to provide constant feedback, allowing senior managers and engineers to make production even more efficient, raising staff morale and keeping everyone focused on the bottom line.

The Drawbacks of Process Manufacturing - but what about the cons of process based manufacturing?

If your firm needs to produce complex machinery or bespoke items for every client, a single formulation won’t usually deliver good results. Process manufacturing is suited to companies that produce standardised items in bulk. If they know their product inside out, they can create the right systems to automate most of the production process, but this doesn’t apply to every economic sector. Instead, firms might need flexible staff, razor sharp client relations and cutting edge technology to drive profit growth.

Process manufacturing could be the ideal approach to boosting a manufacturing business. If you want to explore its benefits, the best way to do so is by selecting an Enterprise Resource Planning package like WinMan to drive through the necessary changes. The results could well be spectacular.