each machine functions such as a job shop but is positioned
in the same order as the parts are processed) to lot sizes as high as 100,000 or more
per year for flexible manufacturing systems (parts are grouped into manufacturing families to
produce a wide variety of mass-produced items) and dedicated transfer lines (highly automated
assembly lines making one mass-produced product using little human labor). According
to this concept, the product becomes standardized into a commodity over time in
conjunction with increasing demand. Flexibility thus gives way to efficiency.