Process Manufacturing

Process manufacturing is typically characterized by:

• Work orders produce multiple items, both co-products and by-products, for a specific completion date.

• Routing instructions are a series of dependent operations that work together continuously.

• Products are often produced in batches or with a continuous process.

• Components or ingredients are often stated in terms of a recipe or formula.

• The quantities of components or ingredients can vary according to their grade or potency.

• Components or ingredients can be issued by preflushing with the release of the work order or backflushed at the completion of the work order.

Process manufacturing is most often used to produce:

• Pharmaceuticals.

• Foods and beverages.

• Raw materials such as lumber, metals, and fluids.

Process manufacturing uses one of these processes:

• Batch processing: a product is usually made in a standard run or lot-size that is determined by vessel size, line rates, or a length of standard run.

  Items are typically scheduled in short production runs due to the life cycle of the product after its completion. Typical items might be pharmaceuticals, foods, inks, glues, oil or chemical products, and paints. A co-products and by-products list might be generated during batch processing.

• Continuous processing: the production period is typically extended, using dedicated equipment that produces one product or product line with slight variations.

  This method of manufacturing is characterized by the difficulty of planning and controlling variances in quantity and quality yield. Typical items might be petroleum-based products or distilled seawater. Co-products and by-products are generally more prevalent in continuous processing than in batch processing

Strategies that are similar to discrete manufacturing, including repetitive or any of the to-orders strategies (such as, make-to-order, assemble-to-order, or engineer-to-order) might be used to control the process.

Usually, both batch and continuous processing methods require extensive record-keeping. You must track quality and tolerance values during the process, as well as strictly adhere to lot tracing and lot tracking. You use lot tracing to display the items that are assigned to a lot. You use lot tracking to display the items that are removed from a lot.