Production Planning
Production planning and control refer to two strategies that work cohesively throughout the manufacturing process. Production planning involves what to produce, when to produce it, how much to produce, and more. A long-term view of production planning is necessary to fully optimize the production flow.
Production control uses different control techniques to reach optimum performance from the production system to achieve throughput targets.
Benefits Of Production Planning And Control
The benefits of production planning and control include:
- Improved organization for regular and timely delivery
- Better supplier communication for raw materials procurement
- Reduced investment in inventory
- Reduced production cost by increasing efficiency
- Smooth flow of all production processes
- Reduced waste of resources
- Production cost savings that improve the bottom line
Objectives Of Production Planning And Control
The objectives of production planning and control can vary from one business to another, but some general objectives include the following:
- Regulation of inventory management
- Optimum utilization of the production process and resources
- Organization of the production schedules, typically with the help of dynamic production scheduling software
- To make sure the right quality and quantity of equipment, raw materials and more are available during production times
- To ensure capacity utilization is aligned with forecast demand
Role Of Production Planning And Control In Manufacturing Industry
The role of production planning and control in the manufacturing industry is to ensure that materials and equipment are available when needed and that everything runs smoothly.
Component traceability and procurement have special challenges in the electronics industry that require diligent planning. The end goal is the most efficient and profitable production possible.
Phases Of Production Planning And Control
There are several basic phases of production planning and control.
Routing
This part of planning involves the precise route a product or the materials take on the production line. The whole operation is planned and designed carefully, and the pat and sequential order is determined and agreed on. At this stage, what equipment is used, and resources will be considered.
Scheduling
The scheduling state is used to determine the time needed for the process, resources and machines to complete a certain step, activity or task.
Loading
This is when the execution of the scheduling and the routing occurs. The load at each of the routing points and the start-end of an operation or activity are checked for resources support and help. It’s during this step that the assignment of individual work will take place. It is also when efficiency will be put to the test.
Dispatching
This is the stage when the real work starts and the actual implementation of the plans that were made are put into production. During this stage, you will have production orders issued to be the operations and to fuel the onward movement on the production line.
Follow-up
There’s no way to know how effective a particular process is unless you follow up on it after evaluation. You need to look for any visible or possible bottlenecks at this point that may hinder the seamless flow of the production line at any stage.
Inspection
Inspection bouts and audits should be conducted to ensure everything under the production scanner adhered to the proper quality standards.
Correction
Once the steps above are done, the results will be seen, and you can take action to correct any issues. This is crucial to make the process more efficient in the future.
