Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of inputs used in the production process
over a period of time. It is the output measured against the inputs used to produce it.
The formula is:
Businesses often measure the labour productivity to see how efficient their
employees are in producing output. The formula for it is:
Businesses look to increase productivity, as the output will increase per employee
and so the average costs of production will fall.
Inventory Management
Firms can hold inventory (stock) of raw materials, goods that are not completed yet
(a.k.a work-in-progress) and finished unsold goods. Finished good stocks are kept
so that any unexpected rise in demand is fulfilled.
When inventory gets to a certain point (reorder level), they will be reordered
by the firm to bring the level of inventory back up to the maximum level again.
The business has to reorder inventory before they go too low since the reorder
supply will take time to arrive at the firm
The time it takes for the reorder supply to arrive is known as lead time.
If too high inventory is held, the costs of holding and maintaining it will be
very high.
The buffer inventory level is the level of inventory the business should hold
at the very minimum to satisfy customer demand at all times. During the lead
time the inventory will have hit the buffer level and as reorder arrives, it will
shoot back up to the maximum level.
Lean Production
Lean production refers to the various techniques a firm can adopt to reduce
wastage and increase efficiency/productivity.
less storage of raw materials, components and finished goods- less money
and time tied up in inventory
quicker production of goods and services
no need to repair faulty goods- leads to good customer satisfaction
ultimately, costs will lower, which helps reduce prices, making the business
more competitive and earn higher profits as well
Now, how to implement lean production? The different methods are:
Benefits:
Increased productivity
Reduced amount of space needed for production
Improved factory layout may allow some jobs to be combined, so freeing up
employees to do other jobs in the factory
Benefits:
Reduces cost of holding inventory
Warehouse space is not needed any more, so more space is available
for other uses
Finished goods are immediately sold off, so cash flows in quickly
Methods of Production
Job Production: products are made specifically to order, customized for each
customer. Eg: wedding cakes, made-to-measure suits, films etc.
Advantages:
Most suitable for one-off products and personal services
The product meets the exact requirement of the customer
Workers will have more varied jobs as each order is different,
improving morale
very flexible method of production
Disadvantages:
Skilled labour will often be required which is expensive
Costs are higher for job production firms because they are usually
labour-intensive
Production often takes a long time
Since they are made to order, any errors may be expensive to fix
Materials may have to be specially purchased for different orders,
which is expensive
Disadvantages:
Can be expensive since finished and semi-finished goods will need
mocing about
Machines have to be reset between production batches which delays
production
Lots of raw materials will be needed for different product batches, which
can be expensive.
Advantages:
There is a high output of standardized (identical) products
Costs are low in the long run and so prices can be kept low
Can benefit from economies of scale in purchasing
Automated production lines can run 24×7
Goods are produced quickly and cheaply
Capital-intensive production, so reduced labour costs and increases
efficiency
Disadvantages:
A very boring system for the workers,leads to low job satisfaction
and motivation
Lots of raw materials and finished goods need to be held in
inventory- this is expensive
Capital cost of setting up the flow line is very high
If one machinery breaks down, entire production will be affected
Advantages
Flexible way of working and production can easily be changed from one
product to another
It gives variety of workers job
Allows more variety to products which would otherwise be identical. This
gives more consumer choice
Production may not be affected to any great extent if machinery breaks
down.
Disadvantages
A business can use these cost data to make different decisions. Some examples
are: setting prices (if the average cost of one unit is $3, then the price would be set
at $4 to make a profit of $1 on each unit), deciding whether to stop
production (if the total cost exceeds the total revenue, a loss is being made, and so
the production might be stopped), deciding on the best location (locations with
the cheaper costs will be chosen) etc.
Scale of production
As output increases, a firms average cost decreases.
Diseconomies of scale are the factors that lead to an increase the average costs of a
business as it grows beyond a certain size. They are:
Poor communication: as a business grows large, more departments and
managers and employees will be added and communication can get difficult.
Messages may be inaccurate and slow to receive, leading to lower efficiency and
higher average costs in the business.
Low morale: when there are lots of workers in the business and they have
non contact with their senior managers, the workers may feel unimportant and
not valued by management. This would lead to inefficiency and higher average
costs.
Slow decision-making: As a business grows larger, it’s chain of command
will get longer. Communication will get very slow and so any decision-making
will also take time, since all employees and departments may need to be
consulted with.
Businesses are now dividing themselves into small units that can control
themselves and communicate more effectively, to avoid any diseconomies from
arising.
Break-even
Break-even level of output is the output that needs to be produced and sold in order
to start making a profit. So, the break-even output is the output at which total
revenue equals total costs (neither a profit nor loss is made, all costs are covered).
A break-even chart can be drawn, that shows the costs and revenues of a business
across different levels of output and the output needed to break even.
Example:
In the chart below, costs and revenues are being calculated over the output of 2000
units.
The fixed costs is 5000 across all output (since it is fixed!).
The variable cost is $3 per unit so will be $0 at output is 0 and $6000 at output
2000- so you just draw a straight line from $0 to $6000.
The total costs will then start from the point where fixed cost starts and be parallel
to the variable costs (since T.C.=F.C.+V.C. You can manually calculate the total
cost at output 2000: ($6000+$5000=$11000).
The price per unit is $8 so the total revenue is $16000 at output 2000.
Now the breakeven point can be calculated at the point where total revenue and
total cost equals– at an output of 1000. (In order to find the sales revenue at output
1000, just do $8*1000= $8000. The business needs to make $8000 in sales revenue
to start making a profit).
Break-even can also be calculated without drawing a chart. A formula can be used:
Chapter 20
Achieving Quality Production
Quality means to produce a good or service which meets customer
expectations. The products should be free of faults or defects. Quality is important
because it:
establishes a brand image
builds brand loyalty
maintains good reputation
increase sales
attract new customers
If there is no quality, the firm will
Quality Control
Quality control is the checking for quality at the end of the production process,
whether a good or a service.
Advantages:
Eliminates the fault or defect before the customer receives it, so
better customer satisfaction
Not much training required for conducting this quality check
Disadvantages:
Still expensive to hire employees to check for quality
Quality control may find faults and errors but doesn’t find out why the
fault has occurred, so the it’s difficult to solve the problem
if product has to be replaced and reworked, then it is very expensive for
the firm
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance is the checking for quality throughout the production
process of a good or service.
Advantages:
Eliminates the fault or defect before the customer receives it, so
better customer satisfaction
Since each stage of production is checked for quality, faults and errors can
be easily identified and solved
Products don’t have to be scrapped or reworked as often, so less
expensive than quality control
Disadvantages:
Expensive to carry out
How well will employees follow quality standards?
Advantages:
quality is built into every part of the production process and becomes central
to the workers principles
eliminates all faults before the product gets to the final customer
no customer complaints and so improved brand image
products don’t have to be scrapped or reworked, so lesser costs
waste is removed and efficiency is improved
Disadvantages:
Expensive to train employees all employees
Relies on all employees following TQM– how well are they motivated to
follow the procedures?
They can look for a quality mark on the product like ISO (International
Organization for Standardization). The business with these quality marks would
have followed certain quality procedures to keep the quality mark. For services, a
good reputation and positive customer reviews are good indicators of the service’s
quality
Chapter 21
Location Decisions
Owners need to decide a location for their firm to operate in, at the time of setting
up, when it needs to expand operations, and when the current location proves
unsatisfactory for some reason. Location is important because it can affect the
firm’s costs, profits, efficiency and the market base it reaches out to.