Page 531 - Business Principles and Management

Unit 6

printer assigned to the job assembles the necessary materials, selects the correct
printing equipment, and completes the printing. A bakery uses intermittent pro-
cessing, as does a company that roasts, blends, and grinds many varieties of
coffee beans to order.

CUSTOM MANUFACTURING Often there is a need to build only one unit or a very lim-
ited number of units of a product. The product may be very large or complex and
take a long time to build. Custom manufacturing is the process used to design
and build a unique product to meet the specific needs of the purchaser. Buildings,
bridges, and computer programs are all examples of custom manufacturing. If a
company needs a special piece of equipment built, it hires a custom manufacturer.
A custom manufacturer must be able to work with a customer to develop a
unique product. The company must be flexible enough to build a different prod-
uct each time, and it may need to build part of a product or the entire product
at a new location each time.

CHECKPOINT
Describe five alternative ways a product can be manufactured.

19.1 Assessment

UNDERSTAND MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Circle the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. Research done without a specific product in mind is called
a. applied research
b. product research
c. pure research
d. scientific research
2. An assembly process that produces a large number of identical
products is called
a. continuous processing
b. intermittent processing
c. mass production
d. repetitive production

THINK CRITICALLY
Answer the following questions as completely as possible.
3. Describe where new product ideas come from.
4. Explain the differences between the alternative
ways of manufacturing.

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