Industrial production methods

There are four main types of industrial production methods:

• One-off production is when only one product is made at a time. Every product is different so it is labour intensive. Products may be made by hand or a combination of hand and machine methods.
• Batch production is when a small quantity of identical products are made. Batch production may also be labour intensive, but jigs and templates are used to aid production. Batches of the product can be made as often as required. The machines can be easily changed to produce a batch of a different product.
• Mass production is when hundreds of identical products are made, usually on a production line. Mass production often involves the assembly of a number of sub-assemblies of individual components. Parts may be bought from other companies. There is usually some automation of tasks (eg by using Computer Numerical Control [CNC: Stands for Computer Numerical Control - the use of computers to control cutting and shaping machines. A key CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) technique. ] machines) and this enables a smaller number of workers to output more products.
• Continuous flow production is when many thousands of identical products are made. The difference between this and mass production is that the production line is kept running 24 hours a day, seven days a week to maximise production and eliminate the extra costs of starting and stopping the production process. The process is highly automated and few workers are required.

ICT in industry

Computer-aided design (CAD) is now common in industry. ICT is most often used in mass production, as computer control makes it possible to produce many identical items very quickly. But ICT is also useful in small batch and even one-off work, as computer control enables complicated shapes to be produced more accurately than by hand.

ICT in design

ICT can help with designing products in many ways:

• Drawings, graphics and diagrams can be produced and edited using graphics or design software.
• Writing and drawings can be combined using desk-top publishing (DTP) software.
• Pictures of existing products can be scanned and used in graphics, photo-editing or DTP software.
• Database packages can be used to record and analyse survey data.
• Spreadsheet software can be used to make Gantt or other planning charts, to produce graphs and charts, and to help with costing projects.

ICT in production

ICT can help with the making of products in the following ways:

• Shapes printed onto card can be used for templates.
• Text printed out can be glued onto sheet material and cut out.
• Machines for cutting card and self-adhesive vinyl sheet can be used to cut letters or shapes. Complicated shapes can be cut more easily by machine than by hand.
• Computer-controlled lathes can make a number of identical turned parts.
• Computer-controlled milling machines can cut out shapes more easily than by hand, especially recesses in materials. Complicated shapes can be cut more easily than by hand.
• Parts which have fine detail, or need to have accurately fitting parts, can be made more accurately than by hand or manual machine methods.

Industrial design

One-off, batch, and mass or continuous production all have different design requirements, because of the differences between types of product, client [client: Person or organisation that wants a product manufactured - eg a retailer. ] expectation, and the scale of operation.

Drawing conventions

Conventions are ways of doing things which conform to a common standard, for example, technical drawings. Using conventions saves time and ensures that a drawing means the same thing to anyone who sees it. The BSI standard for drawings is BS8888.

The illustration below shows two drawings conforming to BS8888 specifications.

Extension lines are parallel lines that extend out from two points on the drawing. A small break should be added where the extension line meets the drawing.

Dimension lines are drawn with an arrow on either end between two extension lines, with the dimension written alongside. The unit of measurement should also be given.

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