Intermittent Production

By Team TranZact | Published on Mar 23, 2023

Intermittent production is a modern production approach wherein distinguished products are produced on inconsistent production schedules but on the same production line. Because of product variability, companies have started to use intermittent manufacturing techniques. It reduces mass production costs and has a positive effect in the long run.

Intermittent production facilities should be adaptable enough to handle a wide range of products, shapes, and sizes and should be organized according to function to focus on functional skills and expertise in specialized operations. Intermittent production includes both job-type machine shops and batch-type chemical operations.

Read through this quick guide to learn about intermittent production, its features, and its pros and cons.

What Is Intermittent Production?

The term 'intermittent production' refers to a production method that starts and stops at irregular or random intervals or time gaps. It enables businesses to use irregular production schedules and manufacturing processes to produce multiple products on a single production line. Manufacturers who produce low-volume, high-variety products for mass customization manufacturing use it.

It creates a medium for an unequal flow of the company's products based on the customers' response and their ever-changing demands. This allows businesses to develop variations of products and provide a variety of shapes, designs, sizes, and qualities depending on the flexible needs of the consumers.

The intermittent production system, as stated by E.S. Buffa, is ideal for facilities that need to be adaptable and flexible, to accommodate a diverse range of products with key changes in the nature or characteristics of activities. This system enables the production workflow to accept inputs at every stage.

Features of Intermittent Production

Intermittent production includes job-type machine shops and batch-type chemical operations. Here are some of the key features of intermittent production -

It can produce high-quality finished products in small batches in each of its units.
It facilitates the manufacturers to produce a wide variety of products in different styles.
The manufacturer can devise unique and diverse production plans depending on the customers' needs.
The flow of the business is not continuous, it occurs in intermittent stages.
The operations are conducted with flexibility and general-purpose machines, tools, and various types of intermittent production equipment are used to accomplish the purpose.
All functions and components involved in the process are adopted to produce the best outcomes.
The volume of production capacity is smaller than usual production.
The market supply and the customer needs and orders are used as a guideline to determine the product type, size, shape, design, and other crucial aspects.
The order of operations keeps evolving due to changes in product designs.

Difference Between Intermittent and Continuous Production Processes

When compared with intermittent production, the continuous production method has some unique characteristics. It is an approach to manufacturing products for make-to-stock workflows. Here is the list of key differences between intermittent and continuous production processes -

Conditions	Intermittent Production	Continuous Production
Nature of Product Requirement	Finished goods are produced based on the customer's needs.	Finished products are manufactured based on the demand forecast and for stocking in the future.
The flexibility of Process	It is flexible, and the quantity and type of the product keep changing.	The production process is standardized, and the same products are manufactured on a timely basis.
Scalability	There is no scope for economies of scale as the goods are produced on small scale.	Large-scale production is possible.
Products Range	Wide range of products.	Focus on one or a few more products.
Instructions	Detailed instructions are required to ensure customer satisfaction.	Simple one-time instructions are sufficient to conduct operations.
Inventory or Storage	No need for pre-planned inventory.	Need for inventory to supply the goods when demanded in the market.
Capital Required	Capital is small.	Capital is huge.
Per Unit Costs	It is higher due to a small scale.	It is lower as the production capacity is large.

Intermittent Production Methods

Intermittent production generally requires flexible manufacturing facilities to handle a wide range of products. These facilities should be organized by function so that functional skills and expertise can be focused on a specialized operation.

Because of the limited resources, intermittent production is more complex than a continuous production system. It can be useful in situations where production centers can handle a variety of inputs. There are three different intermittent production methods as discussed below:

Batch Manufacturing

Batch production is a method of producing finished goods or sub-assemblies by sequentially assembling the various components of a product. Various factors, including raw material levels and demand planning, determine the quantity of finished goods produced in a batch. Raw materials move along the production line in intermittent production cycles, resulting in pauses with each phase. The efficiency is measured by how long it takes to complete, as slowdowns may increase production lead time.

This production method has a set deadline to ensure specific quality improvements. During batch processing in intermittent manufacturing, a product can go through any required changes, such as color edits, size, or style changes. It ensures that the product quality is maintained if the product is enhanced or changed per customer demands.

Examples: Computer software, newspapers, magazines, molding, material coating, machinery, tools, and types of equipment.

Discrete Manufacturing

The process of making various parts of a product from a bill of material (BOM) is known as discrete manufacturing. This process enables manufacturers to complete diverse functional methods. Discrete manufacturing employs components and sub-assemblies that are easily dismantled, and the final product can have parts replaced, similar to assemble-to-order (ATO) businesses. Also, discrete manufacturing may only produce the final item, which will be used somewhere else to construct the finished product.

Examples: Smartphones, vehicles, aircraft, cookware, clothing, and cables.

Job Shop Manufacturing

A job shop is a workspace that uses standardized tools, facilities, and equipment to produce a single complete object using a variety of operators and techniques. Customers customize their orders to meet their specific requirements, and each shop floor has its own design and set of operational procedures.

Job shop owners can sell their products directly to customers, work with wholesalers, or manufacture components for other businesses. Job shop production organizations typically use just-in-time (JIT) inventory management in order to successfully achieve customer orders. Products can travel different routes on the shop floor depending on the amount of customization requested by the customer.

Examples: Small cake shops.

Intermittent Production Examples

Intermittent production is useful for small-scale manufacturers to provide them full control of the inventory, raw materials, and processes involved and make the necessary changes as and when required. The primary goal of the intermittent production process is customer satisfaction.

Here are some popular examples of Intermittent Production -

Bakery/ Cake Shop

Bakery is an example where food is prepared based on the customers that are expected and the variety of items selected by customers based on the event or occasion. A baker has to focus on a variety of items like cakes, cookies, cupcakes, muffins, and more. The production and the time required in each of the processes may differ from one another.

Multiple processes can be dealt with one after the other by managing sponge production in batches and organizing toppings, and frosting tasks. The sponge and popular frosting can be used in multiple varieties. Once the customer places an order online, the baker can use the sponges and frosting desired to fulfill the order.

Gold Smith

Ornaments are not created on a continuous basis, but rather in response to customer expectations and requirements. The goldsmith will showcase the available mock-ups for jewelry choices to the customers. The customers will choose the size, design, pattern, type of material, and stone. The goldsmith will note down these requirements and manufacture the ornament accordingly.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Intermittent Production

A business must analyze its production capacity, capital, and type of products to determine how intermittent production will bring value to them. Let's look at some key advantages and disadvantages of intermittent production to enable better decisions.

Intermittent production is specifically advantageous for manufacturers who use a make-to-order (MTO) workflow and offer product customization. Factors such as versatile transportation, and having multi-location warehouse management systems in place contribute to the benefits of intermittent production.

Advantages of Intermittent Production

The manufacturers can use the same machinery to manufacture various goods at the same price.
They can concentrate on fewer products to improve quality control and streamline production.
Train staff easily to develop the expertise, knowledge, and skills for production.
Adapt to changes in product design and breakages to avoid bottlenecks.
By giving workers the ability to concentrate on particular tasks and repurposing equipment and tools for various product configurations, manufacturing costs can be brought down.
Repeat orders result in a more consistent and smoother production flow.

Disadvantages of Intermittent Production

Intermittent production can be a complex and time-consuming process. Without automation and standardization, products will have a long manufacturing lead time.
Process modifications must be made to meet customer needs, which can lead to issues and delays.
Customizations reduce the overall scope of production scaling. Regular or generalized products allow companies to take their production up to a large scale.
The process may not be ready to manufacture a high number of goods which may lead to time and labor loss.
Because of the irregular workflow, raw material and work-in-progress inventories are high.
Access to a wide range of raw materials is required to manufacture a wide range of goods with limited scope for optimization.

Businesses and manufacturers must analyze these pros and cons and check whether the selected intermittent system will bring them benefits or will weigh down the current production.

Intermittent production is a complex process that requires the support of a variety of workflows and software. Adopting end-to-end automation software like TranZact supports businesses to fulfill customer orders and make the most out of unexpected or ad-hoc customer requests while utilizing current production systems to their optimum levels.

FAQs on Intermittent Production

1. What is the difference between intermittent and continuous manufacturing?

In intermittent manufacturing, products are manufactured based on customers' orders, and in continuous manufacturing, products are made on a demand basis.

2. What are Intermittent Operations?

Intermittent operations involve a set of processes carried out for a certain period, followed by a pause or downtime, after which it is resumed. The duration of the on and off periods can vary and may be predetermined or dependent on various factors.

**3. How many types of Intermittent Productions are available? ** There are three main types of intermittent manufacturing processes - Discrete Production, Batch Production, and Job Shop Production.

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