Unit 4 Production Planning and Control

Production planning and control refers to the two separate pre-production stages of
manufacturing: production planning and production control. It’s the process of managing the
resources, manpower, schedules, and other aspects of producing goods and services.
Production planning and control is implemented by businesses to further strengthen their
production process and prevent setbacks from affecting their normal operations.

As a best practice for quality assurance and quality control, the main goal of production
planning and control is to maximize the materials, workforce, productivity time, and other
resources used in the process of manufacturing. With this technique, production managers also
primarily aim to ensure that production results are according to set quality, quantity, and
schedule.

Benefits of implementing production planning and control

 Enhance material procurement – As a way to improve the procurement process,

better communication with suppliers and other third-party vendors at the planning stage
helps lead to accurate sourcing and allocation of materials.
 Improve production time – Proactively identify if there would be challenges,
bottlenecks, or causes of production delays ahead of time. Greater visibility in the
production process helps teams promptly meet production schedules and demands.
 Reduce production costs – With a well-planned and constantly-monitored production,
businesses can utilize their resources efficiently and effectively. Lessen production costs
to their ideal level while still ensuring that the quality of goods and services is not
compromised.
 Minimize resource waste – Maintain inventory at optimal levels with the execution of
strong production planning and control. Avoid discrepancies between material supply
and material demand to avoid waste of resources.
 Streamline production process – When production managers and team members
follow a standardized approach in the production process, it’s easier to spot
inefficiencies, prevent production delays, and identify further opportunities for growth.

Types of Production
Broadly one can think of three types of production systems which are mentioned here under: -
(a) Continuous production
(b) Job or unit production
(c) Intermittent production
(a) Continuous production: - It refers to the production of standardized products with a standard
set of process and operation sequence in anticipation of demand. It is also known as mass flow
production or assembly line production. This system ensures less work in process inventory and
high product quality but involves large investment in machinery and equipment. The system is
suitable in 117 plants involving large volume and small variety of output e.g. oil refineries
reform cement manufacturing etc.
(b) Job or Unit production: - It involves production as per customer's specification each batch or
order consists of a small lot of identical products and is different from other batches. The
system requires comparatively smaller investment in machines and equipment. It is flexible
 and can be adapted to changes in product design and order size without much inconvenience.
This system is most suitable where heterogeneous products are produced against specific
orders.
(c) Intermittent Production: Under this system the goods are produced partly for inventory and
partly for customer's orders. E.g. components are made for inventory but they are combined
differently for different customers. Automobile plants, printing presses, electrical goods plant
are examples of this type of manufacturing.
Intermittent production
• Under this system the goods are produced partly for inventory and partly for customer's
orders.
• E.g. components are made for inventory but they are combined differently for different
customers.
• Automobile plants, printing presses, electrical goods plant
Need and Importance of Production Planning and Control
Here are a few reasons why it’s important to have efficient production planning and control in
place:
1. Managers can use production planning and control to determine how much stock they'll need
by planning each step of the production process.
2. Production planning facilitates decision-making by understanding current trends and
demands.
3. It helps in employing the right resources at the right places without exceeding budgets.
4. Production planning and control are also essential for resource management as they can
determine the near-exact requirement of direct materials, semi-finished goods and finished
goods throughout diverse production cycles.
5. It’s also important for better coordination across various business functions.
Functions of PPC

Production planning and control functions are the pillars of this process. PPC fulfils several
important roles in making sure efficient production:

1. Forecasting
 Purpose: PPC involves making future projections to create effective schedules.
 Impact: This helps in aligning production activities with future demands, making sure that
resources are optimally allocated.
2. Scheduling
 Purpose: PPC provides a detailed timetable for manufacturing activities.
 Impact: This makes sure that production is completed on time, meeting delivery commitments
and maintaining workflow efficiency.
3. Routing
 Purpose: PPC outlines the flow of work and the sequence of production activities.
 Impact: By defining the path of production, routing helps in optimizing processes and reducing
bottlenecks.
4. Make or Buy Decisions
 Purpose: PPC plays an important role in deciding whether to manufacture a component in-
house or purchase it from an external supplier.
 Impact: These decisions, typically made during the planning phase, can significantly affect cost,
quality, and production timelines.
5. Requirements Planning
 Purpose: PPC is responsible for determining the precise quantity of materials needed for
production.
 Impact: This makes sure that material are available when needed, avoiding delays and
inefficiencies in the production process.
6. Material Control
 Purpose: PPC not only makes sure the availability of materials but also makes sure their optimal
use.
 Impact: Effective material control minimizes waste. It also promotes cost-effectiveness,
contributing to overall production efficiency

Forms used and their importance

1. Production Scheduling: A part of the production planning process that covers the design and
manufacturing of a product.

2. Inventory Management: A central part of production planning and control, especially on multi
stage environments.
3. Batch production: A type of production that involves manufacturing identical items in groups
or continuously, rather than one at a time.
3. Mass Production: Mass production is the manufacturing of the same standardized product
lines for a prolonged period of time. It uses automation or assembly lines to facilitate the high
volume production of similar products .

4. Flow production: A type of production planning that focuses on the assembly line and the
continuous production of similar goods that are consistently in demand
5. Capacity Planning: A form of production planning that determines the production capacity
and employee needs to ensure that the supply chain can meet demand.
Scheduling-meaning and need for productivity and utilisation
Scheduling is the process of prescribing “When” each operation in a production process is to be
executed. According to Kimball and Kimball, Scheduling is “The determination of time that
is required to perform each operation and also the time required to perform the entire series of
operations as routed”.
In general scheduling meets the following objectives:

(i) In order to meet the delivery dates the sequence of operations is properly planned.

(ii) To have minimum total time of production by having better resources utilisation.

(iii) For having maximum capacity utilization and reducing the labour cost by minimization of
idleness of machines and manpower.

(iv)To avoid unbalanced allocation of work among the various departments and workstations.

Functions of Scheduling

The functions of scheduling basically include dealing with the problems related to the
production process. They may be summarized as follows:
1) Assignment: Allocation of orders or jobs amongst various work centres.
2) Sequencing : Stipulating the specific sequencing of various operations, which are required
to be performed at a specific work-centre.
3) Dispatching: Ensuring the beginning of the work at various work centres.
4) Monitoring and Controlling: The progress of the work assigned to various work-centres
needs to be monitored on an ongoing basis, and wherever required, necessary adjustments in
the schedules are made.
.
Gannt chart-Format and method to prepare
Critical ratio scheduling-method and numerical sums
Scheduling using Gantt Chart (for at least 5-7 components having 5-6 machining operations,
with proceses, setting and operation time for each component and process, resource available,
quantity and other necessary data, at least two examples.
[Note: The above two topics to be discussed in the class as it is numerical based concept]
Bottlenecking- meaning, effect and ways to reduce
A bottleneck is a point of congestion in a production system (such as an assembly line or a
computer network) that stops or severely slows the system. The inefficiencies brought about
by the bottleneck often create delays and higher production costs.
There are two main types of bottlenecks: short-term and long-term. A short-term bottleneck is
temporary and typically caused by temporary conditions such as employees on vacation or on
sick leave. Long-term bottlenecks are baked into the production process and include such
things as inefficient machinery.
When workloads are too large or too fast for the production line to handle, a bottleneck can
become an issue. Inefficiencies caused by this backup can lead to delays and higher production
 costs. The bottleneck refers to the shape and size of the bottle. It is also the place where the
bottle is most likely to become congested. This slows down the liquid flow.
Delays in manufacturing can lead to a dramatic increase in production costs and time. When a
company starts the production process of a new product, they are more vulnerable to
bottlenecks. Because there could be problems in the production process that the company
needs to fix, this situation will require more scrutiny and fine-tuning. Operations
management focuses on controlling production, identifying bottleneck effects early, and finding
effective solutions.

In just three steps, a bottleneck can be identified.

1. Visualize. Tracking your work makes it easy to see which work items are getting piled up. This
is usually a sign that there is a problem or bottleneck.
2. Map Queues & Activities. By separating activities from queues and mapping them we can
see how long our work is sitting in a queue before a specific activity. You have identified your
bottleneck if the queue grows faster than the activity stages processes.
3. Measure the Cycle Time Per Stage. By measuring the cycle time at each stage, you can
create a heat map diagram of the cycle time. These workflow stages could also be called
queues.

Ways to reduce bottlenecks

1. Work in batches: Some operations will take less time if similar work items are organized in
batches. Be cautious. Higher risk is associated with larger batches. A smaller batch is better.
However, in real life, sometimes we must compromise.

2. Increase the number of people and resources: To speed up the process, one should increase
the capacity at the bottleneck. Once the system’s resources have been re-distributed, another
bottleneck will appear.

3. Manage WIP Limits – If the work in progress (WIP) limits are rather liberal in the bottleneck, it
may be worth considering lowering the WIP limit. It if doesn’t have a WIP limit, then maybe
consider setting one.
4. Never Leave It Idle – Idling can lead to a large percentage of downtime or loss of
productivity, which is why the bottleneck process should always be loaded at full capacity. This
will enable continuous production and time is never being wasted.
5. Improve Quality – It is also important to ensure that work arrives in the very best form. Any
quality issues can lead to reduced time and ultimately take longer, thus worsening the
bottleneck.