Every business that sells physical products relies upon some form of manufacturing to create the products that they sell. In small businesses, owners might create physical products by hand or hire workers to make custom products to order, while big businesses often have large-scale manufacturing operations that are able to turn out hundreds or thousands of units of goods a day. High volume manufacturing processes are manufacturing activities used to produce large quantities of goods.
Advantages
High-volume manufacturing processes enable manufacturers to produce goods faster, which can result in more sales. In addition, mass production can reduce the overall cost of production per unit. For example, a worker might only be able to produce 10 units of a certain good per day when working alone, but by specializing in a specific task and working on an assembly line, five workers together might be able to produce 100 units a day. In this case, the manufacturer’s cost of labor per unit produced is cut in half.
Disadvantages
Despite its advantages, mass production has a few potential drawbacks. Mass production can have high upfront costs due to space requirements and the need for infrastructure and equipment. Mass production can also limit the ability of manufacturers to make custom products that meet the specific desires of clients. In addition, high-volume products are sometimes viewed as being low quality or generic.