What are products? Definition and classification

Everyone who produces something with his own hands or at an enterprise knows what a product is. However, people who are far from industry do not always understand this definition. From this publication, readers will not only be able to find out the explanation of this term, but also sort out the types and classification of products based on different parameters.

Explanations

According to the regulatory framework and approved by the state services GOST under the number 2.101-68, you can find out what is the product. This is, first of all, a piece object (part or finished product) or a set of different items produced in the production and suitable for subsequent assembly.

Products are usually counted as units of output, sometimes - copies. The main reason for such a clear terminology is the need to maintain documentation at the enterprises (production, storage, providing intermediate storage of products) and in companies engaged in the sale of products.

To avoid confusion and substitution of concepts, there is a clear system, according to which all products are divided into specific types, depending on their purpose, configuration and stage of release (development, testing or production).

Component of the product

In order to make it easier to understand what a product is, you need to understand what it consists of, what its structure is:

• A part is a product that produces only one kind of materials and a single, one-piece item. Additional or further processing is allowed, but this should only be an improvement of the product (chrome plating, paint coating, varnish, etc.), and not its processing or modernization. In this case, it will be a new kind of it.
• Assembly unit - these are the elements of one product, which require the application of measures for assembling and building a single whole. But the complex is two (possibly more) separately manufactured parts of one product, which, in the end, should interact, but for their assembly, you do not need a connection using special equipment. Manufacture of products of a complex kind assumes also an additional complete set by special subjects of a basic subject of manufacture. For example, it can be fasteners, tools, containers or packaging materials.
• Under the set means a number of items manufactured or supplied by one set, they can be operated separately or together, complement each other (set of dishes, set of wrenches).

Classification

There is a fairly extensive classification of objects of production by type, each of which explains the purpose, the way of creating and characterizing the products:

1. The products of the main production are items that are produced at the enterprises for the end user, with a view to their further sale.
2. Manufacturing of products for auxiliary needs. They are necessary for the work of the organization itself or its related industrial group, cooperation.

In addition, there are also groups of consumers on which this or that product is calculated. This is a fairly broad and conditional classification of items of production, but it demonstrates well the pattern of consumption of goods:

• Products suitable for meeting national economic needs - exports, the general population, the conduct of economic activities within the state.
• Products of industrial and technical designation - when a plant of products of this category is established, it operates mainly for certain enterprises with strictly limited nomenclature and strict standards.
• Products to meet the demand of public consumption.
• Items, parts or complexes that are manufactured and supplied in accordance with an approved plan for a particular customer.
• Products for the company's own needs.

There is also a breakdown by the number of produced copies - single (repetitive and one-time), mass production, mass production.

What are the products?

When there is a debugging of production, as well as the subsequent operation of the line, technologists and controllers, it is necessary to closely monitor the quality of the products. To do this, they need to competently determine what is the product, what is its normal appearance and when to make adjustments to the work of the enterprise. Subjects of production are divided into suitable and defective ones. The first ones are manufactured in accordance with all the requirements stated in the technical documentation. To the defective include any part or component with a clear discrepancy with specified standards.

Other attributes of product quality include:

• Completeness, which is installed according to the instructions and accompanying documentation;
• Novelty (obsolete or modern);
• Level of manufacturability.

Who produces the products?

The main objects of production of various kinds of products are specially equipped enterprises - factories, factories, workshops. Their work is debugged and normalized - enterprises of this level work more often in a planned manner. The adjustment of new lines, the modernization of existing ones, often also occur according to the schedule, since large enterprises do not accept making major adjustments to their work.

However, there are masters who produce individual products with their own hands. These are items that are not a commodity of mass consumption and demand, but are made to order according to pre-specified parameters.

Product development

All products, regardless of its purpose, go through certain stages of production. The very first is development. Special engineering and technical departments deal with it.

But the design and subsequent production on the line is impossible without the coordination of intermediate stages and options. Among the most significant are:

• Simulation with subsequent testing;
• The creation of a layout and its approbation, improvement;
• Product execution with the subsequent collection and analysis of the results;
• Creation of norms, names and characteristics for the finished product.

Finished products can have different possibilities for subsequent operation, so, some are subject to repair, others are not. Most often, this factor determines whether the model is a demountable object or solid, which also causes the possibility of after-sales service.