Batch production

Batch production makes a defined quantity of goods together, then changes equipment or workflows before producing a different batch. It sits between one-off job production and uninterrupted flow production.

Production batch: A defined quantity of items processed together through a production stage or sequence. Each production run is organized around a bounded quantity before a changeover.
Job production: A production method that makes individual or small quantities of customized goods to specific orders. It favors customization over the repeated runs that define batch production.
Batch manufacturing: Manufacturing that produces goods in distinct lots, with a pause or changeover between runs. This is the industrial form of the production method defined on this page.
Inventory: Goods and materials held by an organization for production, sale, or use. Larger batches can increase the stock held between production and demand.
Changeover: The work required to switch equipment or a production line from one product or configuration to another. Changing products between batches consumes capacity and shapes scheduling decisions.
Mass production: The manufacture of standardized goods in large quantities using repeatable processes. It typically runs products for longer periods, reducing the relative burden of changeovers.
Batch processing: A method of processing a set of inputs together as a group rather than continuously as they arrive. The same grouped-work logic appears in production and in data or administrative systems.
Economies of scale: Cost advantages that arise when increasing output lowers average cost per unit. Longer runs can spread setup costs across more units, though inventory costs may rise.
Setup time: Time spent preparing equipment or a process before production can begin or resume. Setup time recurs when a batch ends and the next product requires different settings.
Continuous production: A production method in which materials move through an uninterrupted process, often around the clock. It avoids discrete product lots where output and process remain uniform.

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