Industrial production systems

Engineering and construction matters

Innocent Chatikobo

All goods except gifts of nature, come into existence by being produced. The standards of living of a person is the goods and services which he/she consumes hence production points out to volume of production per head of population – quantity and quality of the goods and services produced.

Consumption is limited by the amount produced.

In production, the vital aspect is to maintain working capital, such as stocks of materials and other goods, and fixed capital such as machinery in order to keep up the output of consumers goods.

Depending with demand and requirements at the present moments, some current output can be supplemented from stocks while in some instances human resource and materials can be diverted from the production of for example buildings, machinery and other capital goods towards the production of consumer goods that will be on demand at that particular instance.

A country that fails to boost or utilise it’s production capacity ends up surviving from debts which then culminate into problems as the loans would need repayment.

Production simply consists of changing the form of matter or moving goods from one place to another or holding stocks of goods from one place to another or holding stocks of goods over time for example a farmer arranges seeds in the soil in such a way that it draws sustenance from the earth and from the air and grow into plants; the shoemaker converts a piece of leather into a pair of shoes; the shopkeeper holds a stock of goods from which his customers may select as and when they finish.

The final object of production is to satisfy the wants of consumers.

Production systems

As has been highlighted earlier on, production consists of changing the form of matter or moving goods from one place to another or holding stocks of goods over time.

Work is said to be productive if it provides income for a firm or for an individual.

Production system is a collective responsibility of various stages and levels within the system as we discussed in last week’s edition. We have two main types of production systems:

i. Closed systems: These are systems whereby an industrial sector is operating within itself without outside interference or input from other sectors. The system uses its own resources for production to proceed

ii. Open systems: They are open to input from other industrial sectors to achieve their desired results.

This is the most common system with industries at different levels having a symbiotic relationship.

Types of industries and industrial sectors

Industrial studies experts have classified industry according to the services offered namely: primary, secondary and tertiary industry:

Primary /extractive industry: this is the first stage in production. Their core business is to produce raw materials to be processed by the next group of industries. In this group there is the Agricultural and mining industries which produces the raw materials. However, in this class of industries the materials can be supplied semi processed on site e.g. gold ore and milk.

Secondary / manufacturing industry: They process raw materials from primary industries into finished or semi-finished goods.

Tertiary industry: This is also known as the service industry because it mainly deals with the provision of services, eg banking, insurance, advertising, communication, warehousing, etc.

Each and every industry level has its own skills and machinery requirements, which makes the production to proceed smoothly.

(This article is an extract from a yet to be published book by the columnist)

Innocent Chatikobo is an engineer by profession with AtroServe Engineering Zimbabwe. He has extensive knowledge and experience in structural engineering and construction. For your comments, views, questions and feedback he can be contacted on the following platforms: Cell: +263 777 950 224; +263 712 376 037; +263 782 502 732; Email: [email protected]; Like the Facebook page: AtroServe Engineering Zimbabwe; Follow the Whatsapp Channel: AtroServe Engineering Zimbabwe