There are many reasons to shift focus to low-volume production. In some cases, the aim is to improve manufacturing efficiency while other times it’s merely a necessity of bespoke industries. Improvements take the form of better production testing, reduced tooling, minimization of cost, and shifts toward flexible manufacturing. These are described in more detail below.
1. Bridge Development and High-Volume Production
Low-volume production is often used to bridge the gap between product development/ prototyping and full-scale production. It is a low-risk method of ironing out manufacturing or assembly issues that didn’t get picked up during the initial prototyping phase. From the low-volume starting point, production can gradually be ramped up and the manufacturing processes optimized along the way. As an added benefit, this all happens before sinking significant sums into expensive tooling.
2. Gauge Market Success
Another reason to implement low-volume production is to gauge the market’s response to a new product. Instead of investing significant amounts on expensive high-volume tooling for the mere hope of success, small numbers of products can be put out first to gauge how consumers respond. These products can be released in a controlled manner to a select group specifically for testing or they may be released into the market and their commercial success used to gauge market adoption.
3. Cost Reduction
Some products can only be profitable if manufactured in large numbers using automated manufacturing processes. However, this requires a significant upfront capital investment, making it a financially risky proposition. Low-volume production technologies require very little up-front investment and can be used to test the product’s popularity before committing to full-scale production. If the market is relatively small, then the manufacturer may not need to move beyond low-volume production at all.
4. Custom Products
The demand for customized products has risen dramatically in recent decades. Tailor-made products designed specifically to fit a customer’s preferences will always be more desirable than one-size-fits-all items. However, by their very nature, custom products cannot reasonably be manufactured using high-volume production techniques. Instead, low-volume production techniques offer far more flexibility and customizability.
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