In 2020, the manufacturing sector employed 11.9 million workers in 2018. This makes manufacturing, still, one of the larger industries in the US compared to many.
Yet, you might be wondering, what do all these employees do? Well, in this short guide, we’d like to run through some of the manufacturing processes that employees might be involved in when it comes to making things.
Now, let’s delve a little deeper into the world of manufacturing.
Discrete Manufacturing
Discrete manufacturing tends to have an assembly line. Yet, it varies a lot given the specific demands of a given customer. One example of where you can see this sort of manufacturing is with the making of pipelines.
To make concrete pipes, manufacturers use sheet steel and weld the pieces together. They then use the steel to connect the concrete parts.
Manufacturers often make cast iron pipes in a foundry with a manufacturing process called sand-cast processing. Click this link to learn more about different types of pipelines.
Repetitive Manufacturing
There is little variation in the way manufacturers make products with repetitive manufacturing. Once they lay out a blueprint, the processes remain the same.
Out of all the different types of manufacturing, repetitive manufacturing is the most intensive. In many cases, you might see a repetitive production line run 24 hours a day all year long! In recent times, China has made improvements in this field.
Job Shop Manufacturing
When a manufacturer produces many types of products, they may have a job shop set up to cope with the demands. Job shop manufacturing is more focused on producing custom parts. This is why it uses production areas rather than assembly lines.
Manufacturers can incorporate smart manufacturing techniques into their job shop environment as technology advances. So you can expect that anyone working in this area of manufacturing needs to be adaptable. They will also need to learn about new product development.
Continuous Process Manufacturing
This type of manufacturing is similar to repetitive manufacturing. However, continuous process manufacturing deals with the extraction and processing of raw materials, rather than a product development lifecycle that’s more complex.
In this realm of manufacturing, manufacturers will tend to go through the same processes to extract and process things. For instance, oil and gas go through a continuous process manufacturing type.
Batch Process Manufacturing
This manufacturing type is all about creating batches of products to order. The manufacturer will have gaps between different production cycles. The reason for this is to change their machinery to fit new specs.
Batch process manufacturing is similar to job shop manufacturing in some ways. But when production is up and running, it can be more like repetitive manufacturing.
Manufacturing Processes Explained
So now you have a good idea about different manufacturing processes. Each has its pros and cons, and a lot of the time they can cross over.
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