[hoverkraft]

production: noun. 1 the action of making or manufacturing from components or raw materials, or the process of being so manufactured.

I'd say if you make a factory that takes raw materials and creates a series of one-off items, that you are engaging in production.

It seems like what you're really saying is, "this is not how production has been done in the past". With 3-D printing and related automation technologies, this will start to change very quickly. (It's already started, in fact).

[mkr-hn]

Production is short for mass production in this context.