The tendency has been to divest of timber lands to raise cash and to avoid property taxes. Ford built the Ford River Rouge Complex with the idea of making the company’s own iron and steel in the same large factory site where parts and car assembly took place. A sixth invention, the steam engine, perfected by James Watt, was the key to further rapid development. After making major improvements in steam engine design in 1765, Watt continued his development and refinement of the engine until, in 1785, he successfully used one in a cotton mill.

In 1913, he pioneered the moving assembly line for production of the Ford Model T automobile. The reduced manufacturing time for parts allowed the company to apply the same method to chassis assembly and drastically reduced the time it took to build the Model T automobile. While mass production is now the standard for consumer goods, demand for handmade products persists at higher prices that may or may not be of superior quality. Additionally, the assembly of mass-produced products is faster due to increased automation and performance. This rapid assembly helps to rapidly produce and sell the goods of a company with the ability to create a competitive edge and higher profits. Mass production refers to the effective manufacture of the enormous quantity of similar products.

The Birth of Mass Production

Mass production involves making the same product over and over again according to the same specification. It was originally designed by Henry Ford in the late 1910s and 1920s, when he used it to manufacture his vehicles for the Ford Motor Company. Through the use of the division of labor, Henry Ford set up an assembly line to produce the Ford Model T.

• Starting a mass production business requires huge start-up costs such as that for the factory, land, and machinery.
• Using the then new technology of motion pictures, the Gilbreths analyzed the design of motion patterns and work areas with a view to achieving maximum economy of effort.
• With
  each type of product, people often put into production in “series” so they are called mass
  production.
• When iPhone 5 was launched, this firm experienced its biggest growth.
• While an advantage of mass production is that it can reduce labor costs, employees who remain part of an assembly line may lack motivation because their tasks are repetitive.

For example, McDonald’s (MCD) has a competitive advantage in the fast-food industry because of the speed at which it can produce a meal for time-conscious customers. In mass production, mechanization is used to achieve high volume, detailed organization of material flow, careful control of quality standards, and division of labor. An early example of the demand for standardized products in large quantities came from military organizations and their need for uniforms and other supplies. Precision machining equipment has led to large-scale demand for mass-produced products created cheaply with small workforces. In 1881, at the Midvale Steel Company in the United States, Frederick W. Taylor began studies of the organization of manufacturing operations that subsequently formed the foundation of modern production planning.

8: Mass Production

Before Henry Ford introduced the assembly line and his mass production of the Model T, motor vehicles were only available to the rich. Cars were so expensive due to the inefficient nature of its production, so the working and middle class could not afford one. A firm will require all the components to set up a streamlined process.

• A custom furniture company offers about 50 different products while stocking hundreds of inventory items, yet they ship about 10 finished pieces per month.
• In Chinese factories, the parts of the iPhone are assembled together.
• In this area of production, part costs and manufacturing efficiencies are just as important as performance and reliability and safety.
• By stop starting the process in mass production – additional costs are created and can significantly affect the quality of output.

Watch the following video on the process used to manufacture the amazing Peep. It will serve as a point of reference because it features many of the process components we will be discussing in this reading. Watch the following video on the process used to manufacture the amazing Peep. It will serve as a point of reference because it features many of the process components we will be discussing in this reading.

Mass Customization vs. Mass Production

Further, when workers are assigned specific and specialized labor, they are less likely to encounter an error because they are performing a single and repetitive task. A revision of the mass production processes may be required for reasons other than errors. For example, if a pharmaceutical company has a comprehensive assembly line in place for the production of a popular drug, it would be time-consuming and expensive for them to respond to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory change requiring a different production process. If production is stringently monitored, mass production can result in a high level of precision because production line machines have preset parameters.

One of the earliest and most popular examples of mass production is of Henry Ford and the Model T automobile, the first product to use Ford’s invention of the moving assembly line. In addition, mass production can create higher levels of efficiency because mass-produced items can be assembled at a quicker rate through automation. Rapid assembly aids the prompt distribution and marketing of an organization’s products that, in turn, can create a competitive advantage and higher profits for a company.

Mass Production Definition

Also known as process manufacturing, batch manufacturing involves large quantities of raw materials being processed in batches through the production process. Any subsequent stage or batch must wait until the current batch is complete. Batch production is the default production process for many manufacturers. For mass production the ideal choice of shielding gas, for a given application, is the cheapest in the minimum quantity which will consistently produce welds which meet their service requirement. Consequently, the gas flow rate is an important factor in terms of weld quality and cost. The outcome is a fully operating supply chain that can accept, assemble, and ship to meet customer demand (Inaba et al., 2008).

The same equipment is used to perform the identical operation on a batch of products being manufactured. Compared with other production methods, mass production can create new occupational hazards for workers. This is partly due to the need for workers to operate heavy machinery while also working close together with many other workers. Preventative safety measures, such as fire drills, as well as special training is therefore necessary to minimise the occurrence of industrial accidents.

Implementation, success factors and measures of Mass Production *

It is also usually automated while total expenditure per unit of product is decreased. Mass production now touches most of what American consumers buy, from cars to clothing to toothbrushes. For example, in 1953, every marshmallow Peep took 27 hours to make by hand. With the introduction of the assembly line, this time requirement had been reduced to six minutes per Peep, and an average of 4.2 million Peeps were made every day in 2003. At the same time, Frank B. Gilbreth and his wife, Lillian Gilbreth, U.S. industrial engineers, began their pioneering studies of the movements by which people carry out tasks.

Alternatively a continuous layer of metal may be deposited and etched away to leave the required connections. Mass customization involves providing example of mass production end-users with what suits their needs at a lower cost. Thus, products that meaningfully meet customer’s needs are customized on a large scale.