Computerised Production Control of Consumer Durables Available to Purchase

The manufacture of consumer durables, such as, for example, washing machines and cars, consists largely of collecting together a number of pre‐fabricated components and affixing them to units on an assembly line. Most of these components are probably made by sub‐contractors, but some may be made in‐house. Then there are also basic materials involved such as sheet metal and plastic. For cars, the number of components as well as the variations in units are both very large, and final testing to maintain quality very complicated and thorough; for washing machines, as there are fewer components final testing is much simpler, but the production control process is basically the same. However, whatever the finished products, the various models and variations need to be produced in the right quantities at the right time, on the one hand sufficient to satisfy orders from customers and on the other hand to avoid having unnecessarily large stocks of unsold finished products in stock.