Craft Production

Craft production is the process of manufacturing by hand with or without the aid of tools. The term Craft production refers to a manufacturing technique applied in the hobbies of Handicraft but was also the common method of manufacture in the pre-industrialized world. For example, the production of pottery uses methods of craft production.

A side effect of the craft manufacturing process is that the final product is unique. While the product may be of extremely high quality, the uniqueness can be detrimental as seen in the case of early automobiles.

Womack, Jones and Roos in the book The Machine That Changed the World detailed that early automobiles were craft produced. Because each vehicle was unique, replacement parts had to be manufactured from scratch or at least customized to fit a specific vehicle. The advent of Mass production and the standardization of replacement parts guaranteed a parts' compatibility with a variety of vehicle models.

Mass production has many drawbacks to craft production including that production quality can be lower than a craft produced item. For example, in some mass production automobile manufacturing facilities, craftsmen rework flawed, mass produced vehicles to give the appearance of a quality product.

Lean manufacturing aims to bring back or exceed the quality of craft production and remedy the inefficiency of mass production through the elimination of waste.

Read more about Craft ProductionFurther Reading

Other articles related to "craft production, production":

Aguateca - Material Culture - Elite Artisans
... portion of Maya elites, both men and women, engaged in artistic creation and craft production at Aguateca, and they were often involved in independent and attached production ... Artistic and craft production appears to have been a common pursuit among classic Maya elites at Aguateca, including courtiers of the highest rank and even members of the ... Because of this, several kinds of craft production overlapped in various households ...
Craft Production - Further Reading
... The Machine That Changed the World The Story of Lean Production, Harper Perennial (November 1991), ISBN-10 0060974176, ISBN-13 978-0060974176 ...

Famous quotes containing the words production and/or craft:

    The myth of unlimited production brings war in its train as inevitably as clouds announce a storm.
    Albert Camus (1913–1960)

    It is in the gift for employing all the vicissitudes of life to one’s own advantage and to that of one’s craft that a large part of genius consists.
    —G.C. (Georg Christoph)