Continuous or Flow Production: According to Buffa, “Continuous flow production situations are those where the facilities are standardized as to production routing and flow since inputs are standardized. Therefore, a standard set of processes and sequences of process can be adopted”. Thus, continuous or flow production denotes the production of big quantities of a single or at most a very few varieties of products with a standard set of processes and sequences.There are some distinct Features Of Continuous Production System which we will discuss.
The processing is done through a sequence of operations which form a continuous movement or flow. The work flows through a series of interconnected operations in such a way that the material passes from one stage to another without waiting or interruption. Under high volume, standardized production, the operations form a sequence and the conveyors connecting different operations themselves act as storage space. Steel mills, automobile plants, chemical plants, oil mills, sugar mills, etc., are examples of continuous production system. The main features of continuous production system are given below:
Features Of Continuous Production System
- The quantity of output is usually huge (mass production), and goods are produced with respect to the demand.
- Design, the conversion process and the operations sequences of the product are standardized, i.e., alike products are produced.
- Production machinery and equipment are set according to the product layout pattern.
- Special purpose automatic machines are used to execute standardized operations.
- Machine capacities are balanced so that materials are given as input at one end of the process and finished product is received at the other end.
- Fixed path materials handling equipment is used due to the predetermined sequence of operations.
