Systemising Production: Inputs, Outputs & Timing

The Value-Creation Machine: Converting Inputs to Outputs in Production Processes

Welcome back! In our previous article, we tackled choosing the right production process (Jobbing, Batch, Mass). Now, let’s dig into the core mechanics of your operation: how raw materials and effort are transformed into your sellable product or service.

For Efficiency Seekers like you, understanding the transformation is key to spotting bottlenecks and waste. Systemising this conversion—managing your inputs, outputs, and timing—is how you ensure predictable profitability and quality

Defining the Production Process: Inputs and Outputs

Every production process, regardless of whether you make physical goods or deliver a service, is a transformation process.

The Core Components:

• Inputs: These are the resources that go into the process.

  • Transformed Resources: Materials (raw components), Information (data, designs), and Customers (in a service process, the customer is transformed, e.g., a student is transformed into a graduate).

  • Transforming Resources: Staff (labour, skills), Facilities (machines, buildings, equipment), and Technology.

• Outputs: These are the results of the process.

  • Products: The goods or services sold.

  • Waste/Byproducts: Inevitable outputs that must also be systemised (e.g., scrap material, rejected service applications).

Systemising the conversion means documenting the exact steps and resources needed at each stage to move from input to output consistently.

Classifying Processes: Extraction and Assembly

It helps to classify your processes to know where to focus your efficiency efforts:

• Extraction/Conversion: Taking a raw material or resource and changing its nature (e.g., mining, chemical processing, data analysis).

• Assembly/Fabrication: Putting components together (e.g., electronics assembly, building construction, putting together a financial report).

• Logistics/Transport: Moving inputs and outputs (e.g., inventory management, delivery).

The Timing Challenge: Continuous vs. Intermittent Processes

The final piece of the systemisation puzzle is Timing, which dictates how your transformation resources are used. You must decide whether your process is steady and always running, or started and stopped based on demand.

1. Continuous Processes (High Volume)

• What it is: The process runs constantly, twenty-four hours a day, often with automated machinery and standardised inputs (e.g., oil refining, large-scale utility service).

• Pros/Cons: Highly efficient and cost-effective for high volume, but very inflexible and expensive to shut down or change.

2. Intermittent Processes (Low/Medium Volume)

• What it is: The process starts and stops based on orders or batches (e.g., custom furniture, most professional services).

• Pros/Cons: Highly flexible and responsive to changes in demand or customer specifications, but typically has a higher unit cost and requires more detailed scheduling.

Did you know? Many scaling businesses successfully use intermittent batch processes (like creating a batch of reports monthly) within a larger system that has continuous elements (like automated lead generation). The key is clear documentation of when and how each runs.

"If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing." — W. Edwards Deming.

Ready to Optimise Your Value-Creation Machine?

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