GCSE-ready- Home
- Lessons
- GCSE & IGCSE Business
- Business operations and production
Business operations and production
🎬 The doodle video for this lesson is coming soon. Subscribe on YouTube to see it first.
Operations is how a business makes its goods or provides its services. The right production method keeps costs down and productivity up.
Types of production
Productivity and costs
Productivity is output per worker (or per machine) in a period of time.
Higher productivity lowers the cost of each unit, which lets a business charge competitive prices.
Flow production usually gives the highest productivity.
Higher productivity lowers the cost of each unit, which lets a business charge competitive prices.
Flow production usually gives the highest productivity.
Technology in production
Robots, computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacture (CAM) can raise productivity and consistency.
But they are expensive and less flexible. Businesses must balance cost, productivity, quality and flexibility.
But they are expensive and less flexible. Businesses must balance cost, productivity, quality and flexibility.
A bakery makes 200 white loaves, then switches to 100 brown loaves. Which production method is this?
- Identical items are made in groups.
- The process changes between groups.
Answer: Batch production
Job: one-off, high quality, costly. Batch: groups of identical items. Flow: continuous mass production at low unit cost. Technology raises productivity but costs money and reduces flexibility.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
Check you have got it
Answer 6 quick questions with instant marking. If you get one wrong, GCSE-ready shows you why and gives you another go. It is free, and you do not need an account.