In economic science, there are a large number of approaches by which patterns are reflected in the organization of the production process at enterprises of various specializations and scales, using technologies with different labor costs and levels of distribution of the employees of the company. A widespread concept is that such patterns are determined based on the value of the coefficient of consolidation of operations in the factory. What is its essence? How does it correspond to a specific model of organization of production?
The essence and formula of the coefficient of consolidation operations
What is the coefficient of consolidation of operations and why is it needed? This term is used in economic theory in the context of the definition of various types of production. As such, it is customary to understand certain signs, according to which the release of goods acquires organizational and technological characteristics on one scale or another: the enterprise as a whole, departments, or, for example, a separate workplace.
Types of industrial production are most often determined on the basis of:
- nomenclature of manufactured goods;
- the number of manufactured products;
- the constancy of the list of manufactured goods;
- degree of workload;
- specialization of positions in the enterprise.
The coefficient in question refers to key indicators that can characterize a particular type of production.
Its formula is presented in a very simple structure.
The coefficient of consolidation of operations is calculated as the ratio of the total number of technological tasks (those that have been solved or should be considered) to the number of jobs within the reporting period - for example, 1 month.
Along with the indicator in economic theory, the use of the following coefficients is also widespread:
- specialization of corporate jobs;
- seriality;
- mass character.
It will be useful to study in more detail what they are.
The coefficients of specialization, seriality and mass: what is their purpose?
The coefficient of specialization of the company's regular positions reflects the ratio of the number of facts of processing parts or production materials within a particular technological process to the total number of jobs (or sets of equipment) in a company or division of a company.
The coefficient of seriality reflects the ratio of the rate of production of products in established indicators - for example, in pieces per minute - to the average time to complete the corresponding operations within a given technological process.
The mass coefficient is calculated using a very complex formula that takes into account indicators such as:
- piece time in a given production operation;
- rate of release of goods;
- Estimated dynamics of product production;
- fund operating time of the equipment, expressed in various indicators.
Depending on the specific values that acquire the coefficient of consolidation of operations and its attendant, production is classified as belonging to one of the following varieties:
- single;
- serial;
- small batch;
- mass.
Consider their specifics in more detail.
The essence of unit production
What is a single production? This model of production of goods is characterized by the production of piece goods, in many cases - unique goods. The assortment of relevant products can be presented in a fairly wide range. Employees of enterprises or workshops with a single production, as a rule, do not have a narrow specialization. Specific operations, as a rule, are not permanently assigned to certain jobs.
It can be noted that, for example, a typical coefficient of specialization, which characterizes unit production, is about 40 operations per position.
The specialization of individual jobs may be due mainly to the technological principles of the production of certain products, their size. Equipment in the framework of a single production, as a rule, is used universal and in many cases interchangeably.
Unit production is characterized by the presence of sections of incomplete release of goods, regular reconfiguration of equipment, high labor intensity of operations performed, and also a long cycle of release of goods.
As a rule, the cost in the framework of the corresponding production model is quite high. This may be due, among other things, to attracting highly skilled workers to the production of goods, who require large salaries.
If the nomenclature of products manufactured by the factory is sufficiently diverse, the corresponding type of production can be characterized by a high degree of mobility and adaptability to changes in the structure of demand for manufactured goods. Many firms, when building a production development strategy, focus on acquiring opportunities for the production of goods just the same in a wide range. Thus, an enterprise must have the necessary infrastructure, financing, and personnel in order to satisfy this criterion.
If the company is unable to provide a wide range of products, priority may be given to technologically sophisticated products, rare for the market, but at the same time in demand. For example, if a company manufactures microprocessors for military equipment, even if no other goods are produced other than them, the business is likely to have a steady demand for its products. She will have few competitors, and there may be enough buyers - both at the level of the national defense order and on the world market.
However, with sufficient demand, the company is likely to expand production, which over time is likely to become serial. Consider its specifics in more detail.
The essence of mass production
Batch production corresponds to the model of release of goods within individual batches. This type of organization of the functioning of the factory is characterized, as a rule, by a sufficiently limited assortment of products supplied to the market. The main source of revenue in mass production is the timely delivery of consignments of goods to buyers with a specified frequency.
Depending on the volume of individual deliveries, small-scale production, medium- and large-scale production will be carried out. Within the framework of the model for organizing the release of goods, a fairly narrow specialization of jobs is carried out so that the employees of the enterprise have the opportunity to perform specific technological operations at the highest level of quality. In many cases, this feature of production predetermines a reduction in the cost of production — for example, due to the ability to attract specialists with little experience in less critical areas of the production of goods. The most technologically sophisticated stages of production, in turn, can be entrusted to more qualified employees of the company.
Also, mass production in many cases requires the management of the enterprise to solve problems to optimize the use of certain resources - equipment, production facilities, materials, raw materials. Most often, in the framework of the model for organizing the release of goods to the market, items of everyday demand are delivered - household appliances, common types of technological equipment.
Small batch production
Small-scale production, as a subspecies of the considered format for the release of goods, is close to single. It involves the release of goods in small batches, often within the framework of a large nomenclature. The size of specific batches is usually small, and moreover, can be regularly adjusted. The company quite often changes the types of goods supplied as part of small-scale production, adapts the offer to current demand or to market trends. It can be noted that this format for the release of goods involves the use of equipment of almost the same purpose, which is used in a single production. Workplaces are characterized by the performance of labor functions, which make it possible to organize the production of products in a wide range.
Medium Series Product Release
Medium-series production involves the supply to the market of a sufficiently large series of goods, which are represented in a relatively small range. Moreover, the regularity of supply is characterized by a high degree of stability. The degree of specialization of jobs is sufficiently high. The equipment used in production can be both universal and specialized. For the factories within the framework of which the type of production under consideration is organized, the development of developed infrastructure is characteristic, as well as ensuring the distribution of the output of goods in specific technological areas.
Mass production
Large-scale production involves the release of goods supplied to the market in large quantities by a sufficiently narrow nomenclature. Some types of products that are especially in demand can be produced continuously.
For jobs in small-scale production is characterized by high specialization. The same can be said about the equipment involved in the release of goods at the enterprise.
We now study the specifics of mass production.
What are the features of mass production?
The considered type of organization of the release of goods at the enterprise involves the delivery to the market of products in large volumes and, as a rule, within the framework of a limited nomenclature.
Mass production involves stable supply, focused on long-term demand. The specialization of jobs in organizing the release of goods in an appropriate way is narrow. Each of them carries out a specific technological operation or a group of homogeneous ones. A product that has passed one or another stage of assembly is transferred to the next processing stage - and so on, until the product is ready. Moreover, the proportion of manual labor is usually low in modern mass production. This feature of the organization of the release of goods in many cases significantly reduces the cost of production per unit of product.
The total number of jobs at enterprises organizing large-scale deliveries of products can be both very significant and relatively small: it all depends on the level of technological infrastructure. In robotic and automated production, the size of the staff will obviously be lower than in factories with a greater share of manual labor.
The establishment of mass production must be predetermined by stable demand. If this criterion is not satisfied, the company has a risk of being in a crisis situation due to insufficient revenue in terms of covering current expenses. Actually, the high sensitivity of demand from the enterprise organizing mass production remains at almost any stage of business development. Therefore, the company must, before investing in additional capacities that allow organizing the release of goods in the appropriate dynamics, conduct a detailed study on the subject of demand for products sold.
Types of production and fixing factor
How does the coefficient of consolidation of operations correlate with the types of production considered by us? In economic science, as well as in a number of state standards, a number of dependencies are established between the corresponding indicator and the model for organizing the production of goods and services.
So, with a single production, most often the considered coefficient exceeds 40 units. With small-scale production, it is in the range of 20-40, with medium-sized production - about 10-20, with large-scale production - usually 1-10. Mass production has a fixing coefficient, usually not exceeding 1.
Economic principles of choosing a production model
So, we examined what are the main production models, as well as the corresponding values of the coefficient of consolidation of operations, which refers to the key indicators of the functioning of the model of organization of production of goods at the enterprise.
How can company management make decisions regarding the adoption of priorities in a business development strategy regarding the organization of production in one form or another?
One of the key factors in the economic efficiency of an enterprise is stable demand. If it is absent, then even if each technological operation is well-developed at the enterprise, advanced solutions and the best equipment are introduced, the proceeds may not be enough to cover costs. Therefore, before investing in increasing production capacities and transferring a company, for example, from a small-scale to a medium-series model, management should study the prospects for selling goods in a larger volume, and find out whether there will be sufficient demand for the corresponding type of product.
It also matters what kind of infrastructure the company actually has at its disposal: it happens that initially the owners of the enterprise invested in providing highly specialized jobs, and re-equipping them with those that are characterized by broad specialization can be problematic, and vice versa. The labor process is part of the business model, which in many cases is much more difficult to adjust than the type of production organized in the company. A person trained, for example, as a specialist in programming electronic components, most likely, will not be able to deal with operational time, relatively speaking, to conduct a chemical analysis of the environmental friendliness of insulating housings on manufactured products - for this he will have to undergo training in another specialization.
Although the efficiency of personnel transition to the implementation of new labor functions may be required, from the point of view of production modernization. In this case, as a rule, we are talking about attracting new specialists, and this can predetermine the appearance of new costs for the company. The labor process is also a procedure in which the company’s management is obliged to pay enough attention to personnel work in terms of finding specialists, conducting interviews with them, testing, applying for a job, and facilitating their quick adaptation to the specifics of the production process in the company.
Of course, the choice of one or another production model should be carried out taking into account the current transport infrastructure: if the capacity of the roads available in the region is not too high, then the delivery of products manufactured in large batches can be difficult. Or have high costs, which, again, may require additional work from the management to stimulate revenue. The same can be said about the dynamics of the delivery of raw materials from suppliers. If it is not high enough, then deploy a powerful production can be problematic. Or, the solution to this problem will predetermine an increase in the cost of production, which, possibly, will lead to an insufficient level of its competitiveness.
Summary
So, we examined what constitutes a coefficient of consolidation of operations and the accompanying concepts of specialization, seriality, and mass. These indicators characterize how the company organizes the production of goods: as part of a single, serial or mass production.
The choice of a particular model depends on many factors. Firstly, it is the level of demand available on the market or potentially possible. Secondly, these are the possibilities of the existing production base, as well as the prospects for attracting personnel with a certain qualification, taking into account the perfect investments that need to be paid back. Thirdly, these are the infrastructural resources available to the enterprise - first of all, from the point of view of involving highways for delivering goods to consumers or purchasing raw materials from suppliers.