MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS: TYPES AND MAIN CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The manufacturing systems are the various processing and production of a material or feedstock using tools, machinery, energy and labor. The term manufacture is of Latin origin: manus means "hand" and factos means "made."

So the word manufacturing means "handmade", but by extension it applies to the current production process, which involves techniques, machines and people. Manufacturing systems are fundamental in society to manufacture products or parts, efficiently and with quality.

Each of these systems has diverse characteristics of varied nature and of different types. In addition, the materials subjected to the industrialization process differ from each other through their shape, strength, size, density or aesthetics.

In the manufacture of new products, a series of operations and processes of various kinds are involved, but all have the main objective of modifying the physical characteristics and properties of the materials used, in order to create a new element.

The 2 t

Manufacturing engineering classifies or divides these processes into two categories: continuous and discrete.

Continuous process

Its main characteristic is the production of batches of products by quantity or weight, whose evaluation is carried out by means of a group of variables of continuous range.

These variables are of a physical or chemical nature, such as weight, resistance, volume, color, time, density, conductivity, elasticity, viscosity and transparency, among others.

For example, continuous processes are used in the production of minerals, steel, gasoline, foams, and industrial gases.

Discreet process

Under this process, pieces, parts, assemblies or components are produced that can be easily counted and classified as products, whose properties or attributes may be acceptable or not acceptable depending on their quality.

The attributes in this process are measured by non-continuous scales or by numbering or counting scales.

Examples of this process are the manufacture of vehicle parts -plastic or steel- and the manufacture of electronic circuits, among others.

As in the continuous process, in the discrete process, components or accounting parts can be manufactured that can be evaluated or classified as high or low quality.

This category includes crops of fruits or feet of young, with certain characteristics of weight, volume, phenotype, among others.

Main characteristics of traditional manufacturing systems

To become more efficient and competitive, production organizations today have had to adopt new technologies, improve their production systems and methods, and adapt to markets.

The particularities of the manufacturing systems are very varied in terms of density, shape, size, aesthetics or resistance. These systems are used in the field of industry.

However, there are still many companies with traditional manufacturing systems, whose main characteristics are:

- They are designed for specific products.

- The flow is online, due to the way the machines are arranged in a row.

- The process ends at the last machine in the row.

- The inventory of products in the production chain is low.

- Eliminate costs more efficiently.

- The variety of products is low.

- The machines manufacture specific products. They are not adaptable, as is the case today.

- There is low demand for products.

Flexible manufacturing systems

The term flexibility is used to define an attribute that allows a manufacturing system - flexible or mixed - to deal with a certain level of variation in the styles of products or parts.

This is achieved without interrupting the production process while making changes between models.

This feature is highly desirable in all manufacturing systems. These types of systems are also called flexible manufacturing systems or flexible assembly systems.

characteristics

- All work units are identified.

- The manufacturing system identifies the unit of work in order to execute the correct operation. Different styles of products or parts are required for different operations.

- Changes to operating instructions are made quickly.

- Quick change of physical installation.

The flexibility allows different styles of products to be manufactured without loss of time, since they are not produced in batches and quick adjustments can be made between one unit and another.

World-class manufacturing

World-class manufacturing is a concept created by manufacturing consultant Richard Schonberger.

Its main objective is to enhance human and technological resources towards the manufacture of products more efficiently, by increasing their operability and speed.

The world-class manufacturing category involves a process of adaptation to production procedures and concepts of relationships with customers, suppliers, producers and distributors.

There are 6 types of world-class manufacturing:

One piece flow

The "Piece by piece" manufacturing system consists of organizing the manufacture of products based on the flow or continuous production of a single piece, which is not grouped into batches but passes from one station to another as it is manufactured.

The objective of this type of manufacturing is that there is a fluid and continuous production process for each work section.

Parts are manufactured quickly, they do not accumulate between a machine and there is a tighter control of the stock.

Just in time (Just in time)

His philosophy is to define how production time is optimized. This boils down to “getting it right the first time”.

This type of production manufacturing is focused on meeting demand based on the efficiency of the procedures of the machinery and its operators.

This system is summarized in manufacturing the type of parts requested in the quantity and time required.

Toyota production system

The success of Japanese and Korean manufacturers is due to this manufacturing system. This system eliminates all unnecessary procedures from the manufacturing process, which serves to reduce production costs and prices.

It is based on quality control, adapted to fluctuations in demand in terms of variety and quantity of products.

Another fundamental foundation of this system is quality assurance in each product manufacturing process and respect for staff as the organization's most important asset.

Ford production system

The great contribution of this system to the industry was the organization of mass production of products. This caused an expansion of supply and demand, by increasing production and reducing costs.

The Ford system (the assembly line) is based on increasing the division of labor, increasing the control of the worker's productive work, mass production, reducing costs and increasing the circulation of goods, in other aspects.

Demand flow technology

This system focuses on creating high-quality technological products in the shortest possible time at the lowest cost.

It reduces everything that does not add value to the product and emphasizes the emphasis on the quality of the machinery and the operator.

The premises of the DFT system are to produce only what is necessary and schedule daily production according to real demand, promote a quality culture in the work of each employee, use the Karban system and eliminate or reduce waiting for the customer.

Lean Manufacturing

By its name in English, Lean manufacturing is based on various work tools that make it possible to eliminate all those activities in the production process that do not add value to the product and increase costs.

It relies on almost all the previous systems: Just in time, the Pull system, the kanban, the visual control, the total productive maintenance, the minimization of the change times (SMED) and the kaizen (change to improve).

References

1. Pérez Gaona, Oscar Eduardo: Manufacturing systems - Tesoem (PDF). Retrieved on February 8, 2018 from tesoem.edu.mx.
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3. Advanced manufacturing - Cepal. Consulted of cepal.org
4. Robles, José Orozco: Advanced manufacturing systems and their potential application to Mexican industry. Graduate thesis, Autonomous University of Nuevo León. eprints.uanl.mx
5. Manufacturing Process. Consulted from sites.google.com
6. Manufacturing systems related to industrial engineering. Consulted of monografias.com