There is a trade off between flexibility and efficiency. Why use the intermittent form of process. Main advantage is the ability to produce a reasonable wide variety of outputs at low cost. Functions can be segregated allowing for easy design of process, Variety allows for staff with a variety of tasks reducing potential boredom, and greater skill base. Swap over from other departments when faults occur Disadvantages Disadvantages General purposes result in higher through put cost and times compared to process operations where operations are more standardised.
General equipment is slower at processing.
One of the costs of flexibility versus volume. Higher variable costs but lower initial setup costs. Higher skilled staff can be more expensive. For low volumes the process form gives low output costs but as the volume increases the output costs increase, so costs increase as volume increases. Work in progress can build up and so inventory costs increase, high material handling costs due to varied job routings, increased facility space to store WIP and for transportation.