What is Process Manufacturing? Overview Refresher
Process industries include: pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, adhesives, paint, coatings, gasoline, bio-tech, and the chemicals industry. Why?
About process manufacturing
In process manufacturing, after a product is produced it cannot then be broken down into its component parts. Examples of process manufacturing products include solder, chemicals and substances for raw materials, adhesives, coatings, edible or drinkable goods like a chocolate bar or packaged fruit juice, pharmaceutical goods, bio-engineered products, and fuels such as petrol.
Typically, process manufacturing involves things of a liquid or once-liquid form that went through some kind of – yes – “processing.” Processing usually means adding energy or some kind of conditional change - say, adding thermal energy - for chemical conversion. Processing usually means exposing a mixed substance to heat, cold, time, pressure or other conditional changes. These changes permanently create an entirely new thing.
Differences between process manufacturing and discrete manufacturing
In process manufacturing vs. discrete manufacturing, factors are:
- ingredients, rather than parts or assemblies
- formulas, rather than BOMs
- bulk, rather than units
Examples of discrete manufacturing include electronics, airplanes and spacecraft, cars, child's toys, books, and medical equipment. Discrete manufacturing products are easily identifiable, even without a label.
A good example
A good example of the difference between process and discrete manufacturing is in the image (below) of a paint and roller. The paint is a process manufacturing product, you can't break it down into components.
The roller was assembled from parts and can be disassembled back into identifiable parts: thus it's a discrete manufacturing product. "Discrete bits," is how one professor put it.
Manufacturing with nanoparticles is closer to Process Manufacturing than Discrete, but to the best of our knowledge nanotechnology remains its own category. (Please add a Comment on nanotech if you strongly agree or disagree.)
Further reading:
- This Tech Target article is a decent write-up of process industries. Wikipedia of course has a a few relevant pages, a Google search should get you there easily.
- Process Industry Practices (pip.org) web site is interesting.
- A UK Magazine on the Process Industries is here. There used to be a Reed Publication on the subject but as of last spring there is not.
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