Smooth Flow of Socialist Production

an important principle for organizing the production process, which presupposes that all the production units of an enterprise or association will systematically fulfill the quotas of the state plan for product output of the appropriate assortment and quality according to a previously established schedule. A smooth production flow creates conditions under which equipment and worktime can be more fully and evenly utilized, backlogs of incomplete production reduced, and the turnover rate of circulating capital accelerated. The absence of a smooth production flow causes a disruption of the workers’ normal work schedule, unjustified losses of work time, rush work, and poorer product quality. It also leads to late product deliveries to consumers and interruption of the production process at other production units.

A smooth production flow is achieved by carefully developing the production process, introducing progressive methods for organizing production, and creating emergency and circulating reserves of materials, semifinished goods, and incomplete production. Production schedules for manufacturing the product are created and strictly observed in order to utilize production resources efficiently and to satisfy consumer needs within stipulated time limits. The production schedule is more likely to be met in the production process when negative deviations are eliminated in the work of individual units and when conditions are created for disseminating and utilizing information gained from experience.

The smoothest production flow is achieved when a single type of product is mass manufactured on an assembly line; semifinished goods and finished articles are produced in uniform quantities over equal intervals of time.

In lot and unit production, where more than one type of product is manufactured, a smooth production flow means that a uniform volume of work is performed over equal intervals of time, even though the content of the work changes. An important factor in achieving a smooth production flow is production specialization, which is accomplished by assigning uniform types of jobs to individual units. This is based on standardization and unification of the product and semifinished goods and classification of production processes by type.

The smoothness of production flow is measured by the degree to which actual output corresponds to the established product manufacturing schedule:

Here, K_p is the coefficient of smooth production flow, a_i are the negative deviations in actual output from planned output (nonfulfillment of the plan in established periods), Π are the plan quotas for the corresponding period, and η is the number of analyzed periods (shifts, days, ten-day periods).

Often, for a simplified description of a smooth production flow, the indicator of the actual proportional amount of product output in the corresponding time periods (ten-day periods, weeks, or months) is compared with anticipated figures.

In assembly-line production, the smoothness of the production flow can be measured by the average linear or square deviation from the calculated pace of the assembly line or by a coefficient of rate variation:

Here, t is the actual speed of the assembly line, t̄ is the calculated speed of the assembly line, n is the number of observations, θ is the mean linear deviation, V is the coefficient of variation, and σ is the mean square deviation.