The way products are manufactured depends on the quantity required. For example, cars are continually manufactured in hundreds of thousands , a prototype is a ‘one off’ (just one made) and DIY furniture is made in batches of thousands. Single item production is described below.

SINGLE ITEM
PRODUCTION

PROTOTYPES
SPECIALIST MODELS
HANDMADE ITEMS
SPECIALIST ENGINEERING
ONE OFFS

CHARACTERISTICS

1. A highly specialised company.
2. Small highly skilled workforce,
possibly one or two workers, sometimes more.
3. Constant communication with the client,
constant discussion regarding the design.
4. Company specialises in particular
areas such as engineering or musical instruments etc...
5. Specialist materials are often required
eg. specialist woods or modelling materials
6. The final product is expensive due to
the level of skill needed to manufacture the
product and the cost of specialist materials
and equipment.
7. A high standard of quality control
8. Products are manufactured for
a specialist market / clientele
eg. musicians, medical profession, aerospace.

The example specialist company (shown below) has a small workforce. In this example one highly skilled worker manufactures the entire item. The skilled worker is highly trained / skilled and makes the product by hand. The example shown is a specialist a specialist company manufacturing hand-made guitars. They design and make guitars for professional musicians.

CLICK HERE FOR PRODUCT DESIGN INDEX PAGE

CLICK HERE FOR RESISTANT MATERIALS INDEX PAGE