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Mass Effects: Pros and Cons of Large-Scale Production

One of the great advances of the 20th century, the assembly line system completely changed the way all kinds of businesses operated around the world. With new technology constantly facilitating further advances, this is a system that will continue to be refined over the years. If you run a business that creates products, you may want to think about scaling up your company using mass production as a tool. Obviously, before you start doing this you will need to make sure that you have a big enough demand. Here are just a few of the pros and cons if you are thinking of getting involved in mass production.


Pros







For a start, everything is automated to the highest possible extent so it means that your production process is totally streamlined. Larger businesses utilise this method as they are able to produce a lot more of a particular product in a shorter space of time. As well as this, you are likely to significantly reduce your labour costs. To get started, you may need some specialists in areas such as polymer seal fabrication, but after a time you can probably employ people at a lower rate of pay as they do not require extensive training.


As your capital and energy are increased, your total expenditure per unit of product is decreased. Everything can be housed in a single space and you are able to fully manage and monitor the entire production process. If you are finding that you are simply not able to fulfil a growing demand for your product, mass production could very well be the answer.


Cons







To begin with, you are likely to have to make a significant investment as the machinery can be very expensive to buy. Unless you are sure you have the demand for your product, it can end up being a very risky business.


Though staff are cheaper to employ, the repetitive nature of the work may mean that you have a high staff turnover. This constant recruitment drive can end up being very expensive and your production can be significantly slowed up if you can’t find the staff you need. Also, if one part of the production line breaks, everything will probably grind to a halt until you can get the problem solved.


Sometimes, the charm of a business can be lost if everything is mass produced. People may well end up turning away from your company and going elsewhere. If you had previously marketed your company on everything being handcrafted, you will need an entirely different approach.


Conclusion



Mass production is revolutionary for some businesses and they can end up reaping massive rewards from it. However, before choosing to go down this path, you need to think long and hard about whether it is right for your business. As with every major change in a company, you need to have a clear plan in place regardless of what the consequences of your decisions are.  


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