Oracle Manufacturing Concepts

DISCRETE MANUFACTURING
Discrete manufacturing is a manufacturing process in which distinct items/products(which you can easily count, see and touch) are built or manufactured in discrete batches on manufacturing floor. It creates physical products which go directly to business and consumers, and assemblies that are used by other manufacturers. The resulting product is easily identifiable. It is different from process manufacturing where products are undifferentiated (can not tell the difference between one product and another) such as oil, natural gas and salt.

A typical characteristic of discrete manufacturing is the frequent switching from one manufactured product to another. The products are typically manufactured in individually defined lots, the sequence of work centers through production varying for each one of these. Costs are calculated on the basis of orders and individual lots

Discrete manufacturing is also characterized by individual or separate unit production. Units can be produced in low volume with very high complexity or high volumes of low complexity. Low volume/high complexity production results in the need for an extremely flexible manufacturing system that can improve quality and time-to-market speed while cutting costs. High volume/low complexity production puts high premiums on inventory controls, lead times and reducing or limiting materials costs and waste

Discrete manufacturing typically involves the sequence of work centers through which the products can pass during production. This sequence can be varied as per requirement. The order of work centers is determined in routing’s, which can often be very complex. There can be waiting times between the individual work centers. Also, semi-finished products are frequently placed in interim storage prior to further processing

Examples like Transportation equipment, Automobiles, toys, Computer and accessories and electronic products, consumer electronics, furniture, Lego Blocks, Appliances and other house hold items, Industrial and electrical equipment, Medical equipment and supplies, Fabricated metal, furniture, recycling, pencil ,light bulb, telephone, bicycle, Fuel Pump etc…

PROCESS MANUFACTURING
Process manufacturing is different from Discrete manufacturing. Manufacturing is not in discrete batches but is a process of pressing/mixing/chemical processing/heating/boiling liquid/semi liquid/solid and powder or raw materials. Once you manufacture a product by using process manufacturing, the output can not be brought to it’s original basic form

For example orange juice with sugar added cannot be put back in to the Orange and Sugar separately. On the other hand a computer manufactured by a discrete manufacturing process can be disassembled and the parts can be returned to stock to a large extent. Examples of process manufacturing are food products, beverages, paints & coatings, chemicals, specialty chemicals , pharmaceuticals, consumer packaged goods, Bulk drug pharmaceuticals, Nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and biotechnology industries. In Process Manufacturing, there are ingredients and not parts; there are formulas and not bill of materials; and bulk, not Unit of measure Each

FLOW MANUFACTURING

Flow Manufacturing is an innovative manufacturing method which synchronizes production with customer demand

Oracle Flow Manufacturing module supports the entire build-to-order manufacturing process which includes make-to-stock, configure-to-order, discrete-repetitive, assemble-to-order, and engineer-to-order manufacturing strategies and methods. It initiates schedules as soon as customer orders are received, and ensures shipment as soon as build is complete. Flow manufacturing employs pulls material using kanbans planning and back flushes material and costs upon completion. This in turn helps decrease inventories, optimize machine utilization, reduce response time to customer orders, and simplify shop floor activities.

Flow manufacturing production lines are designed to support the inter-mixed production of multiple products within a family on the same line at a constant rate. It can be used in Inventory module to replenish kanbans and in Work in Process to complete assemblies without having to create a job or a schedule (work order less job)

PROJECT MANUFACTURING
Large contracts or projects received by the companies can not be completely fulfilled by process manufacturing or discrete or repetitive manufacturing methods. It requires a separate manufacturing method known as project manufacturing. Project manufacturing meets demand driven production requirements for large contracts or projects. It allows you to plan, schedule, process and cost against a specific contract or a group of contracts or project for a specific customer.

Oracle Project Manufacturing supports companies in the Engineer-To-Order, Make-To-Order manufacturing strategies and Aerospace and Defense industries. These industries plan, track, procure, and cost based on project, contract, or Seiban numbers.

If Oracle Projects is installed and the Project References Enabled and Project Control Level parameters are set in the Organization Parameters window in Inventory module, you can assign project and, if required, task references to planned orders, jobs, purchase orders, sales orders, miscellaneous transaction and other entities within Oracle Manufacturing. If the Project Cost Collection Enabled parameter is also set in inventory organization parameters, you can optionally collect and transfer manufacturing cost to Oracle Projects module. Project costs are tracked by project/task and expenditure type.