Understanding Process Manufacturing
Process manufacturing produces products such as liquids, fibers, powders, or gases. Pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, and beverages are typical examples of process products and represent a significant share of the manufacturing market.
These types of products are usually manufactured by a two-step process:
Mixing or blending
Filling or packaging
Intermediate steps, such as curing, baking, or additional preparation, can also occur. Intermediates enable you to track the quantity of output of any operation in a work center at a specific time. You can define intermediates in different units of measure, by item, or by quantity. You can set up one intermediate per operation, but you cannot define an intermediate for the last operation in a routing instruction.
Process manufacturing uses recipes or formulas, and resources or ingredients. Resources can either be consumed or produced during the manufacturing process. Products that the process produces are called co-products and by-products. In a process recipe or formula, the quantity of a component can vary according to its grade or potency.
The different types of processing in process manufacturing are:
Batch processing
In batch processing, a product is usually made in a standard run or lot size determined by vessel size, line rates, or standard run length. Items made this way are typically scheduled in short production runs due to the life cycle of the product after its completion. Typical items are pharmaceuticals, foods, inks, glues, oil or chemical products, and paints. Co-products and by-products might be generated during batch processing.
Continuous processing
In continuous processing, production typically occurs over an extended period using dedicated equipment that produces one product or product line with only slight variations. This method of manufacturing is characterized by the difficulty of planning and controlling quantity and quality yield variances. Typical items are petroleum-based products or distilled seawater. Co-products and by-products are generally more prevalent in continuous processing than in batch processing.
In addition, strategies similar to those in discrete manufacturing, such as repetitive or to-orders (for example, make-to-order, assemble-to-order, or engineer-to-order) might drive the process. Usually, both batch and continuous processing methods require extensive record keeping on quality and tolerance values during the process, as well as strict adherence to lot tracing and tracking.
Not all processes are planned, scheduled, or produced in their primary unit of measure. To accommodate this situation, full unit of measure capabilities are enabled throughout the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Shop Floor Management system.
Most entry programs have a unit of measure next to the quantity fields, and the unit of measure is stored in the database tables along with the quantities.
The system uses four fields in the Item Master table (F4101) throughout shop floor as default values in entry forms:
Component Unit of Measure.
Production Unit of Measure.
Primary Unit of Measure.
Secondary Unit of Measure.
The Primary Unit of Measure value must be the smallest of the three units of measure. If intermediates exist for an operation, the intermediate can be any valid unit of measure as long as the conversion is set up.
The next section provides different examples of process manufacturing.