Mass Production
This note is about the concept of mass production, and the relevant more recent approach of mass customisation or flexible and agile production. Related to prefabrication in construction. Alternatives include just-in-place and just-in-time manufacturing.
Fordism, modernism and industrialisation as related and damaging concepts.
New industrial revolution, industry 4.0, the maker movement, circular economy, zero marginal cost society, cradle to cradle
Definition
Mass Production | Description, History, Uses, & Limitations
Advantages
- Cheaper to make things
- Faster to make things
Disadvantages
- Standardisation, loss of local cultures, traditions, skills
- Environmental costs with materials transported from afar
- Disconnection of places, workers, users from the modes of production and the consequences of the objects, resulting in little care for the outcomes
- Huge volumes of production resulting is pollution, waste, other damage
- Underpins mass consumption and the ensuing political consequences
- Optimised to make money, to suit management, to streamline the process
Relevance and Implications
How does mass production affect:
- Work
- Quality of design outcomes
- Environmental issues
- Equity
How does mass production relate to the notion of knowledge economy?
Alternatives
- Bioregionalism, localism
- Slow movement
- Voluntary simplicity
- Mass innovation
- Craftsmanship
References
Marsh, Peter. The New Industrial Revolution: Consumers, Globalization and the End of Mass Production. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.
An alternative take on how to make things:
Schlosberg, David. Sustainable Materialism: Environmental Movements and the Politics of Everyday Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.