Discrete manufacturing produces distinguishable products while process manufacturing produces homogeneous products. Discrete products can be disassembled and have individual value, while process products are relatively fluid. Examples of discrete manufacturing include cars, boats, and airplanes. The distinction is useful for creating processes that apply to many different manufacturing sites at once.
Discrete manufacturing describes any system responsible for producing a discrete product. At the end of a discrete production process, the individual products can be distinguished from each other even if mostly identical. This type of manufacturing is usually separate from process manufacturing.
Process manufacturing requires some sort of raw material and systematically performs some sort of operation on it. For example, oil refineries are process producers because they produce large quantities of refined fuel rather than specific items. Other examples of manufacturing processes include the production of concrete, beverages and paints. In general, the materials associated with process manufacturing are relatively fluid. Process manufacturing is also significantly asymmetric; usually these are mixtures and reactions that cannot be easily reversed.
Discrete manufacturing, by contrast, does not produce a homogeneous output. It is based on processes that are more reversible than those of process manufacturing. Most discrete production products can be disassembled back to their original components; the smallest of these components are likely the result of manufacturing processes. The end products of a discrete manufacturing process might all have serial numbers and be sold with individual price tags and barcodes.
Obvious examples of discrete manufacturing include cars, boats and airplanes. These items all have a high individual value and are consequently treated with a relatively high individual attention in the manufacturing process. As these products pass through the assembly lines, their individual units acquire more and more value. Lower value items such as appliances or furniture are still discretely manufactured products, however, because they are individually separated.
Some products such as pills or toothpicks blur the line between process and discrete manufacturing. The final products are separated individually, but are produced in such quantities that they can be functionally treated in a similar way to “processed” goods such as liquids. A lava lamp might go through a “process” stage of its production, but ultimately it becomes a very discreet product.
Ultimately, the difference between discrete and process manufacturing is only a generalization to help understand the different needs associated with various types of manufacturing. This kind of distinction might be useful for an accountant, engineer, or marketer looking to create processes that apply to many different manufacturing sites at once. Discrete manufacturing is functionally unique because its output can be measured in units rather than volume, individual items can be inspected for quality, and products can be sold by unit rather than incrementally.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
