A production process includes different interrelated actions that allow certain elements to be transformed.
A production process is a system of actions that are dynamically interrelated and that are aimed at the transformation of certain elements . In this way, the input elements (known as factors ) become output elements ( products ), after a process in which their value increases.
It should be noted that the factors are the goods that are used for productive purposes ( raw materials ). The products, on the other hand, are intended for sale to the consumer or wholesaler.
Actions that take place in a production process
Productive actions are the activities that are developed within the framework of the process . They can be immediate actions (that generate services that are consumed by the final product, whatever its state of transformation) or mediate actions (that generate services that are consumed by other actions or activities of the process).
On the other hand, although there are a large number of product typologies, we can mention the main ones: the final products , which are offered in the markets where the organization interacts, and the intermediate products , which can be used as factors in another or other actions that make up the same production process.
There are various kinds of production processes.
Classification according to type
Production processes, for their part, can be classified in different ways. Depending on the type of transformation they attempt, they can be technical (they modify the intrinsic properties of things), mode (modifications of selection, form or arrangement of things), place (displacement of things in space) or of time (conservation over time).
Depending on the mode of production, the process can be simple (when production results in a single type of commodity or service) or multiple (when the products are technically interdependent).
The importance of the Industrial Revolution in the production process
The Industrial Revolution was, surely, one of the events that most influenced productive management around the world since it marked a before and after not only in the way in which production would be developed but also in the social strata .
The Industrial Revolution began in the United Kingdom at the end of the 18th century and caused radical changes in Anglo-Saxon society that considerably affected its economy. These modifications had to do with the insertion of automatic structures that caused the region to go from having traditional agricultural production to mechanized one .
It is necessary to point out that the industrial revolution quickly reached other countries, making them grow dramatically and collaborating with their economic structure; In this second phase, the changes that this movement brought to the types and modes of production were seen more firmly. It is worth mentioning that work moved from the countryside to the city, with the creation of manufactured work methods and new services that caused the number of job offers to grow in large cities and many people moved from the most desert regions to the city to improve. their living conditions .
The changes that the industrial revolution brought to the production process were:
* Change in the organizational structure of factories (small workshops ceased to exist to give way to enormous structures where mass production was produced);
* Implementation of more technological tools in the production of products to increase productive efficiency;
* Change in the social structure of the city (those who owned the productive means were called entrepreneurs and those who worked were called employees).
The incidence of technology
Technology is, for its part, a factor that constantly modifies production processes; So much so that, as time goes by, the countless advances made in work tools make jobs less burdensome and contribute to a better quality of life for employees ; However, many people are against these transformations because they consider that in this way, the jobs available to people are reduced and, therefore, the number of individuals without work increases.
It is important, therefore, to point out that, although technology can contribute greatly to the quality of life of societies, it is up to people to make good use of it and not live at its disposal, but rather using it to live in a better way. .