Economies of Scale
Economies of scale refer to the cost advantage that a business can obtain due to its size, output, or scale of operation. The larger the volume of production, the cheaper each unit of production may become.
This happens because as production increases, the cost to produce each unit decreases. That’s the result of operational efficiency gained through increased production. The cost of producing each unit of product declines because fixed costs (like overheads or capital equipment expenditures) are spread over more units of output.
Examples of cost savings might include bulk buying of materials, the specialization of labor, or the utilization of more efficient capital equipment. Economies of scale can also be related to technology or managerial expertise.
There are two main types of economies of scale:
- Internal economies of scale: These occur within a firm, usually as a result of factors like improved production processes, better bargaining power to negotiate with suppliers, or an enhanced distribution network.
- External economies of scale: These occur within an industry, often due to the development of better infrastructure, a skilled labor force, or collaborative research and development.
However, it’s important to note that economies of scale can’t continue indefinitely. After a certain point – known as the minimum efficient scale – increased scale can lead to higher per unit costs, known as diseconomies of scale. This might be due to factors such as increased complexity, communication difficulties, or over-utilization of resources.
Example of Economies of Scale
Let’s consider an example of a company manufacturing smartphones to illustrate the concept of economies of scale:
Suppose a company called PhoneCo is manufacturing smartphones. The total fixed costs involved in setting up the production line, including the cost of machinery, rent of the factory, research and development, and other similar expenses, amount to $10 million.
If PhoneCo only manufactures 1,000 smartphones, the fixed cost per unit would be $10,000, which is quite high.
However, if PhoneCo manufactures 1,000,000 smartphones with the same fixed costs, the fixed cost per unit drops to $10. This reduction in cost per unit due to increased production is an example of economies of scale.
Further, suppose PhoneCo uses its increased volume to negotiate better deals with its component suppliers, leading to a decrease in the cost of raw materials per smartphone. This is another example of economies of scale, demonstrating how increased scale can improve a company’s bargaining power.
Moreover, the company can distribute the marketing costs over a large number of units, which decreases the cost per unit, offering another source of economies of scale.
Remember, this is a simplified example. In the real world, economies of scale also have limits, and when a company grows beyond a certain point, it may experience diseconomies of scale where costs per unit start to increase due to challenges like increased complexity and communication issues.
