Craft production is the process of manufacturing by hand with or without the aid of tools. The term Craft production refers to a manufacturing technique applied in the hobbies of Handicraft

Handicraft

Handicraft, more precisely expressed as artisanic handicraft, sometimes also called artisanry, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft. Usually the term is applied to traditional means...

 but was also the common method of manufacture in the pre-industrialized world. For example, the production of pottery uses methods of craft production.

A side effect of the craft manufacturing process is that the final product is unique. While the product may be of extremely high quality, the uniqueness can be detrimental as seen in the case of early automobiles.

Womack, Jones and Roos in the book The Machine That Changed the World

The Machine That Changed the World

The Machine That Changed the World is a book based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's $5 million, five-year study on the future of the automobile, written by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones , and Daniel Roos....

detailed that early automobiles were craft produced. Because each vehicle was unique, replacement parts had to be manufactured from scratch or at least customized to fit a specific vehicle. The advent of Mass production

Mass production

Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...

 and the standardization of replacement parts guaranteed a parts' compatibility with a variety of vehicle models.

Mass production

Mass production

Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...

 has many drawbacks to craft production including that production quality can be lower than a craft produced item. For example, in some mass production automobile manufacturing facilities, craftsmen rework flawed, mass produced vehicles to give the appearance of a quality product.

Lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, or lean production, often simply, "Lean," is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination...

 aims to bring back or exceed the quality of craft production and remedy the inefficiency of mass production through the elimination of waste.

See also

• Artisan
  Artisan
  An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
  
  
• Mass production
  Mass production
  Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
  
  
• Lean manufacturing
  Lean manufacturing
  Lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, or lean production, often simply, "Lean," is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination...
  
  
• Preorder Economy
  Preorder Economy
  A preorder economy is a type of proposed future economy where the exact demand for goods is known ahead of time, before any material production takes place...
  
  
• Batch production
  Batch production
  Batch production is a technique used in manufacturing, in which the object in question is created stage by stage over a series of workstations. Batch production is common in bakeries and in the manufacture of sports shoes, pharmaceutical ingredients , inks, paints and adhesives. In the manufacture...