Understanding the Productive Function and Manufacturing Processes
1. The Productive Function
The productive function is the set of processes and activities necessary to build a good or service, based on a set of productive resources.
Role of the Production Department
- Provisioning: Includes the management of procurement and the selection of suppliers.
- Manufacturing: Utilizes raw materials, labor, and machinery to achieve the final product.
- Storage: Includes the warehousing of raw materials for production and end products intended for sale.
- Quality Control: Ensures the product quality meets customer demands.
Interdepartmental Relationships
- Commercial Department: Investigates the characteristics of products that customers want.
- Financial Department: Seeks financial resources for the acquisition of production machinery and controls production costs.
- Human Resources Department: Selects the necessary personnel specialized in manufacturing the required good or service.
Perspectives on Production
The productive function combines a set of productive resources and processes to obtain goods that meet human needs. From a technical perspective, it involves labor, raw materials, energy, and machinery. From a functional and utilitarian perspective, it adds value to resources to make them useful (e.g., wood and graphite combined to create a pencil).
Technology and Innovation
Technology specifies how to combine factors of production. A different combination of factors to produce a specific good indicates a change in technology. R&D (Research, Development, and Innovation) allows companies to be more competitive by improving production quality, reducing costs, and increasing turnover.
Classification of Production Processes
According to Timeline
- Continuous: Without interruption (e.g., cars, refineries).
- Intermittent: Does not require continuity (e.g., public works, buildings).
According to Procedure
- Manual: Made only with human effort.
- Mechanized: A balance between manpower and machines.
- Automated: Human intervention is minimal, limited to supervision and monitoring.
According to Product Type
- In-series: Obtaining a single product with homogeneous characteristics.
- Individual: Obtaining several different products.