In Oracle Manufacturing Cloud, both Discrete and Process Manufacturing are supported. The choice between Discrete and Process depends on several key factors, including the nature of production, the type of product being made, and the level of tracking required. These elements collectively determine which manufacturing approach best fits a given business scenario.
| Feature | Discrete | Process |
| Manufacturing Model | Assembling components | Production of bulk goods using recipes/formulas |
| Product Type | Countable units | Non-discrete – Bulk Goods & Batch Processing (e.g., liquids, powders, food, chemicals) |
| Work Definition | Step by Step operation (Series of Independent Operations) | Operations & Process Instructions (Series of dependent operations that work together continuously) |
| UOM | Fixed Units (Each/Pieces) | Variable Units – LB/Liter (Weight/Volume/Potency) |
| Output | Single | Multiple (Primary & By-Products) e.g Juice/Pulp/Waste/Samples |
| Lot Tracking | Optional | Mandatory (with Expiry dates) |
| Industry Fit | Auto/Electronic/Machinery/Engineering equipment | Foods/Beverages/Chemicals/Pharmaceutical |
| Data Structure | BOM + Routing | Recipe + Routing (No BOM) |
| Models Supported | CTO/ATO/ETO/MTO | High volume production |
| Testing Requirements | Basic Compliance | Extensive regulatory Compliance like FDA/HACCP |
| Components | Components can be manually issued with the release of the work order, backflushed at the completion of the work order, or both | Components or ingredients are often stated in terms of a recipe or formula. |
Note:
- A food processing plant may use process mode for ingredient preparation and discrete mode for packaging into distinct units.
- A pharma company may manufacture bulk drug product using process mode, then use discrete mode for tableting and packaging.
- If the work method is process manufacturing, then it will allow you to enter the batch quantity & the primary output
- In Process Manufacturing, The output is produced by different ingredients/recipes (processes). Once the production process is complete, the output is typically homogeneous and cannot be separated back into its original components. For example, once the Pizza is made, It cannot be separated to its old state (Crust/Sauce/Raw Materials).
- Work method will differentiate between process and discrete manufacturing.