Discrete vs Process Manufacturing: What Are the Differences?

What do you want to manufacture? Were you a science nerd in high school, and you want your product made in a laboratory-like manner?

Or are you a self-proclaimed gearhead and want your product made with a more standardized approach?

Not knowing the answer to this question can cause you to waste money and resources in the long run. This is why you must learn the differences between discrete vs process manufacturing. So, read on!

What Are the Differences 

Most manufacturing environments can be classified as either discrete or process manufacturing. The appropriate manufacturing approach depends on the type of product produced.

The differences between the two can impact the manufacturing process. It can also affect the type of products produced and the equipment used.

What Is Discrete Manufacturing

Discrete manufacturing is the process of designing, creating, and assembling individual products. It's manufacturing with a high degree of customization. This is often essential for unique or complex products.

It usually results in a higher quality product and more flexibility since each component can be designed and crafted precisely. 

Discrete manufacturing design products, create prototypes, and manufacture products using specialized tools and equipment. To know more about the design for manufacturing, click here. 

What Is Process Manufacturing 

Process manufacturing is a production process that converts raw materials into finished goods. It produces high volumes of identical products like food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and plastics.

Process manufacturing has a standard procedure. It stresses quality control at each stage of production. This is critical, as even a small mistake in the manufacturing process can result in a defective product. 

Discrete vs Process Manufacturing: The Drawbacks 

The focus of discrete manufacturing is to make individual products. With this, it can be inflexible and slow to respond to changes in customer demand.

Manufacturers must adjust their production plans and schedules when customer demand changes. This results in time consumption and disruption.

It can also be less efficient than others because it often involves more setup time, changeovers, and smaller production runs. As a result, it can be more expensive than other types of manufacturing.

On the other hand, process manufacturing can also be quite expensive, as many steps are involved and often specialized equipment is required. This can make it difficult to scale up or down as needed.

It can be inflexible, too, as changing one step in the process can often have a ripple effect on the rest of the process. This can lead to frustration and delays if tweaks need to be made.

Process manufacturing can be quite complex, making it challenging to troubleshoot and optimize.

Know the Difference!

Knowing what discrete vs process manufacturing is can help you decide the manufacturing that you need. The main difference between the two is how they created the product.

If you're looking to create a product, you'll first have to decide which manufacturing process is best for you.

Would you like to read more articles about manufacturing? Check out the rest of our blog now!