Types of production processes. Classification.

At the heart of any type of industrial activity is the production process. It represents the associated stages in the transformation of the product of labor (materials, raw materials) into the final product, which is the goal of production.

The types of production processes are as diverse as the various economic goals are, and how to achieve them.

Classification of production processes.

Classification of production processes can be carried out on different grounds.

1. First of all, the processes can be divided into main, auxiliary, servicing and management based on the role assigned to them in the overall production system.

• The main ones - on the basis of which, actually, the production of the enterprise is produced.
• Auxiliary - ensuring normal and smooth operation of the main. For example, construction and installation works, energy production, production of spare parts, components, additional tools. The results of their activities "support" the production of products that are the subject of specialization of the enterprise.
• Servicemen provide the interrelation between the main and auxiliary ones. These can include warehouse, logistics, loading and unloading, transport, control, picking procedures.
• Managerial. They include those types of production processes that are designed to coordinate all the work of the enterprise, regulate the compatibility of other processes, determine their feasibility and economic efficiency. Often they are closely intertwined with the basic, auxiliary and servicing processes.

2. From the point of view of the nature of the process, the processes can be divided into discontinuous and continuous.

• Discontinuous (discrete), within which the stages of the production process are separated by time intervals.
• Continuous types of production processes involve the absence of gaps between technological operations.

3. By the degree of mechanization processes are divided into:

• Manual, carried out, as the name suggests, without the use of mechanisms.
• Machine-manual groups of production processes that involve the use of mechanisms or mechanized tools with the obligatory participation of workers. For example, they include machining parts on turning or milling machines.
• Machine - flowing with the use of machinery, machines or machines and requiring little human involvement.
• Automated - processes, the production of which is carried out automatically, the role of a person is reduced to controlling the operation of mechanisms.
• Automatic lines, production of products on which does not require human participation.

4. Depending on the complexity of the products, the types of production processes can be:

• Simple, including operations aimed at changing the properties of the same type of objects of labor. For example, the production of a batch of parts.
• Complex, consisting of simple operations, the implementation of which is aimed at the production of the final product or its intermediate block. For example, the final assembly of the car.

5. Based on the scale of production of one type of production processes are divided into:

• Individual, designed for the production of non-recurring products. Used in shops that produce products often updated nomenclature. They require high skill of workers and application of complex versatile equipment. An example is experimental production.
• Serial, designed for the production of small series, repeated with a certain periodicity. In this case, specific operations are assigned to the site, which are performed in a given sequence.
• Mass are used in cases where production is aimed at producing homogeneous products in large quantities and for a long time.