Production

The biggest lost mark on 5.2 is a correct generic answer with NO context. On 'Outline one benefit of flow production', a valid benefit like 'low cost per unit' still loses the AO2 mark unless it is tied to the named firm — which product is made in high volume and why low cost matters there. Naming the firm alone is not context; add a specific detail from the extract.

On extended questions candidates explain what a method IS, not what it DOES for the business. On 'Analyse the benefits of automation', weak answers describe the robots but never follow the chain: higher productivity -> lower unit cost -> more competitive. Description alone caps the lower band — always follow method to effect on the business.

Job production's advantages are often weakly understood, and students confuse it with batch. Job production makes ONE bespoke item to a customer's order, so its advantages are high quality, customisation and the higher price a made-to-order product commands. Batch makes a GROUP of identical items then switches equipment — do not describe batch when asked about job.

Lean production removes WASTE (time, materials, movement, defects) to RAISE quality and cut cost — it does not mean lowering quality or under-resourcing. Answers that treat lean as 'doing things cheaply' miss the point: the aim is minimum resources for maximum output, with quality improved by cutting wasteful steps, not sacrificed.

Just-in-time (JIT) holds little or no stock: materials arrive exactly when needed, cutting storage cost and waste but leaving no buffer if a supplier is late. Just-in-case holds buffer stock in reserve to keep production going if supply fails, at the cost of storage and cash tied up in stock. Do not describe JIT as 'keeping spare stock' — that is the opposite.

Batch production makes a GROUP of identical items, then re-sets equipment for a different batch, so time is lost switching but variety is possible. Flow production is ONE continuous, unbroken line of identical items at very low unit cost, but inflexible. A firm switching between product runs is batch; a firm running a single non-stop line is flow.

Two MCQ traps. (1) 'Flow production means poor quality' is wrong: flow uses standardised, often automated machinery, so quality is usually CONSISTENT — its real drawbacks are high investment and inflexibility. (2) 'Capital-intensive means the firm has money' is wrong: it relies mainly on MACHINES, labour-intensive on PEOPLE; do not just define 'capital'.