Talk:Process manufacturing
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Definition[edit]
The definition given seems to posit that process manufacturing is that kind of manufacturing that employs irreversible processes. Whilst it is true that the raw materials cannot be recovered from many process-manufactured products, the same is true of many discrete-manufactured products.
The true distinction is one of material flow, and it is this: Continuous-process manufacturing, or Process manufacturing for short, maintains a continuous flow of materials through a network of machines, without waiting or stockpiling between machines. This is in contrast to Discrete manufacturing, in which discrete items or parts are assembled by various machines.
A feature of discrete manufacturing is the stockpiling of intermediate products or Work In Progress until its consumption capacity becomes available. Such stockpiling is usually impracticable in process manufacturing; if intermediate product cannot be consumed immediately, it must often go to waste. Occasionally, e.g. in manufacturing coverings such as carpet or roof slates, delay lines or loops are built into continuous processes, to adjust the production rate of one machine to the input of the next. But apart from such adjustments, process manufacturing moves material immediately to the next machine in line.
For an informative article on Continuous Process Manufacturing design and engineering, see: SiewMun Ha, Continuous processes can be lean, Manufacturing Engineering June 07 Issue Volume 138 No. 6: http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/find-articles.pl?&ME07ART42&ME&20070610&&SME&#article
yoyo (talk) 12:32, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
This is "Process Manufacturing", not just continuous process manufacturing. Process Manufacturing (or better, "Process Industries", though this page has been redirected here) include continuous, batch and discrete manufacturing. In fact, this classification I have been using by 20+ years in the industry is broadly accepted today. Check e.g. ARC reports or the like. There are some standard definitions for Process Industries (e.g. "an industry based on the transformation of raw materials into other products", the transformation may be reversible or not - e.g. a car can be disassembled). The word "industry" is important to differentiate from craftsmanship.