Pipelined production

Pipelined production is one of the forms of organization using most efficient production methods. In it tasks are carried out continuously, and processing of materials is continuous and progressive.

This way, the production efficiency is achieved through:

• deployment of workstations in accordance with technological process
• synchronized time of operations done by one workstation or group of workstations working in parallel.
• transportation from one workstation to another without interruption,
• equal time of operations on all the workstation that make up the pipeline.

Conditions to achieve smooth operation of pipeline are:

• stability of demand - irregular demand causes problems with changing setups and production to store.
• products or services must be normalized, - this causes in-elasticity of production,
• high need for timely and compliant supply,
• all tasks need to be specified and standardized to allow smooth work,
• work must meet accepted standards - production does not provide time to correct the deficiencies
• all machines and equipment must be in working order - failures destabilize entire production line,
• support operations must be planned and performed ahead of time,
• control procedure is integral part of whole process,
• it is necessary to synchronize all the machine centers by creating "tact" of production line.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

• transparency and clarity of the production process
• easy organization of work and production,
• full use of working time,
• ease of coordination and synchronization of work,
• provide rhythm and efficient work,
• fast preparation of staff to perform the work,
• short time and low cost of transport,
• ease, high efficiency and the effectiveness of quality control,
• short production cycle,
• reduction in the inventory of materials and semi-finished products,
• reduced labor costs.

Disadvantages:

• relatively narrowed range of manufactured products,
• dependence on production discipline, rhythm and the quality of work
• high cost of purchase and maintenance of equipment
• monotone work

Pipelined production — recommended articles

Production line — Production process — Continuous process — Production rhythm — Organization of production — Jidoka — Mass production — Single minute exchange of die — Work cycle

References

• Monsifrot, A., Bodin, F., & Quiniou, R. (2002). A machine learning approach to automatic production of compiler heuristics. In Artificial Intelligence: Methodology, Systems, and Applications (p. 41-50). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.