Principles of industrial production - The aim of every commercial enterprise must be, above all, in a market economy order of the economy to create its service with the least possible expenditure of material and labor.
It is thanks to the various rationalization measures that the productivity (productivity) of the economy has been constantly improved, the prosperity of the population has grown steadily.
This rationalization (from Latin ratio: reason) of the work process extends to both the work material (choice of the most suitable materials) and the work equipment (creation of suitable tools and machines) and human labor (observation and dismantling of the work process, better workplace design, etc.) . Its aim is to make human work easier.
Scientific management
These are suggestions and recommendations that are the result of decades of thorough research. Examples are: time studies, fatigue studies, selection of suitable workers through psychotechnical aptitude tests, appropriate design of the workplace, etc.
In Germany, this system of “scientific” management was introduced in 1924 by the “Reich Committee for Working Time Determination” (REFA) (since 1945 “Association for Work Studies” in Darmstadt).
Specialization of products
The aim of specialization is to limit the production program to a few types of product. This enables the introduction of mass, series or variety production, which leads to major cost reductions. The absorption capacity of the market, however, sets a limit to excessive specialization.
In addition, highly specialized companies are becoming more susceptible to economic crises and changes in buyer behavior.
Standardization within production
Standardization means the definition of uniform sizes, dimensions, designations of individual parts or devices (threads, sockets, screws, light bulbs, index cards, paper formats, etc.) and restrictions on a large number of shapes, sizes and types.
The "German Institute for Standardization" (DIN) has so far completed over 8000 standard sheets (DIN sheets), which deal with all areas of business and administration. In addition to the German standards, there are often identical international standards. They are set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
When typing, the basic idea of standardization is transferred to composite products, e.g. B. on end products such as automobiles, motorcycles, typewriters, calculating machines and others
Assembly line production
Assembly line production is common practice in large companies. The workpiece comes to the workplace. The sensible arrangement of workstations (machines and devices), which are connected to one another by main and feeder belts, enables a smooth operation. Timing of the individual production stages and work processes that are precisely coordinated with one another.
Drawbacks of assembly line manufacturing: Monotony of work, higher sick leave, increased rejects, dissatisfaction of the employees become more and more evident.
Modern production organization processes concentrate more diverse tasks on the individual employee (e.g. at Volvo, Grundig). A distinction is made in this context:
Job rotation (change of duties) - This is to counteract the monotony in the workplace.
Example: Working groups are formed on the assembly line. Each employee in the group takes on a different task in a specific order.
Job declaration (expansion of the scope of duties) - The breakdown into the smallest work steps, which is typical for assembly line production, is reversed.
Example: An employee in the furniture industry assembles a cabinet from prefabricated parts instead of just fitting the cabinet door, as has been the case in the past.
Job enrichment (enrichment of duties) - The aim is to strengthen the employee's independence and responsibility.
Example: The employee from the previous example also checks whether the manufactured cabinet meets certain quality requirements.
automation
Automation is the final stage in the process of fully mechanizing work processes. The technical development led from manual production at the workbench to mechanical production with the help of machine tools; for assembly line production in which the transport processes are also mechanized and automated, and finally for the transmission of the control
and control operations on machines.
Humans only have a monitoring function. The work is carried out without human intervention. Complicated machine tools carry out several work processes (functions) at the same time and independently transport the workpiece from one processing to another. Like the conveyor belts, these "robots" are electronically controlled and monitored by machines.
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