Industrial Technology
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Industrial Technology
Structural factors
Production and efficiency
This unit of work addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcomes:
A student:
H3.2 selects and applies appropriate research and problem-solving skills
H5.1 selects and uses communication and information processing skills.
Extract from Stage 6 Industrial Technology Syllabus. © Board of Studies, NSW 1999.
Production is the act of an article being produced by industry; it can be a measure of efficiency.
Efficiency is the effective operation of an industry as measured by a comparison between production and cost.
Efficiency can be measured in terms of a number of different criteria. For example, time, materials use and cost.
Production is a measure of efficiency.
Efficiency can be measured by production.
Background
The main aim of any industry is to produce an item (or service) to sell at a profit. However, a well organised business will wish to make this profit making an ongoing process. Whilst a one-off sale will usually return a short-term profit, continuous and sustained income from profits is much more desirable.
In order to continue in business, any industry or company needs to make a continuous profit. This profit provides income that enables growth and development within the industry. It may be used to keep shareholders happy by paying them a dividend. It may be used to repair machinery, buy new equipment or to maintain current stock, or it may be directed to the owner's pay packet to buy a new swimming pool, house or car.
It is important to return a profit.
In order to return a profit, an industry needs to become efficient in whatever it does. In becoming efficient, it will also produce more goods, which can be sold for a profit. This profit can then be re-invested in the company to help it become more efficient, and so on.
Production is inevitably linked to efficiency. The more efficient an industry is the more it can produce. Then it can make a large profit that reflects the company's efficiency. This increased production can, in turn, lead to a company or industry re-investing into its own operations. It may buy more equipment. It may modernise the current equipment. It will need to do this in order to maintain its competitiveness against other similar companies. If too much of the profit is taken away from the business, then the efficiency of that company as measured against other similar companies, is in decline.
Efficiency is dependent upon the company's resources and its ability to manage these in respect to such areas as:
- it's location (or address)
- access to surrounding industrial or technological facilities
- the capabilities of the resources, technology and equipment on site
- skilled and semiskilled workers' expertise and training
- management expertise and training
- access to finance, loans or capital
- access to modern assembly techniques and similar technologies
- access to labour saving devices
- a flexible and willing workforce.
The following strategies are just a few examples of current industry management solutions to efficiency problems. Some of these are covered in other units of work for the Industrial Technology course. Solutions to efficiency problems include:
- mass production
- robotics
- power tools, e.g. electric, battery, pneumatic (air powered), hydraulic
- conveyor belts
- standardisation
- lean production
- outsourcing
- computer-assisted equipment, e.g. computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
- quality control and "quality circles"
- multiskilling
- specialisation
- electronic ordering and fund transfers
- invoiceless purchasing.
Activity 1
Complete the following table detailing some disadvantages and diverse effects of increasing productivity.
| Industry needs to be efficient by: | Disadvantages and adverse effects: |
|---|---|
| increasing productivity |
|
| reducing total production costs for each product |
|
| introducing automation / computerisation or robotics, aimed at reducing labour costs |
|
| promoting a cashless exchange for goods |
|
| standardisation of parts and technologies |
|
| keeping minimum stock on hand and thus saving on storage costs |
|
| promoting the necessity of specialisation in production |
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| maintaining a competitive edge against other companies |
Download this table (Word document)
Activity 2
Visit The Cameron Balloons Virtual Factory at http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/cb/ 
and take a virtual tour of their factory floor.
Read some general information, look at the pictures at
http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/cb/tour/index.htm and then answer the relevant activities.
Source: Cameron Ballons at www.bized.ac.uk/virtual/cb/factory/
The photos show two different artwork processes.
- Rank these techniques accordingly from the most capital intensive to the least capital intensive.
- Rank these techniques accordingly from the most labour intensive to the least labour intensive
- Which technique do you think requires the most skill from the employees? Why do you think that?
- What could the management at Cameron Balloons consider trying to improve the efficiency of the artwork process?
- What benefits does a high quality artwork department have for the rest of the company?
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