ITPEC FE Morning April 2019 Question 70

Products that need flexible production of many types — cell production suits high-mix, low-volume manufacturing.

In cell production one worker or a small team assembles a whole product, or a large part of it, inside a compact U-shaped cell of workstations. Because the team handles every step, it can switch models quickly without rebuilding a long assembly line, so many product types can be made in small lots.

Answer (c)

Why not others:

• •(a) — mass production for productivity is the strength of line (flow) production, where each station repeats one step at high volume
• •(b) — division of labour through standardisation, simplification and specialisation is the principle of the assembly line, the opposite of one team doing every step
• •(d) — specifications that stay the same for years let a dedicated line run efficiently; the flexibility of cells is wasted there

Key rule: Line production pays off with high volume and few models; cell production pays off with many models, small lots and frequent change.

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