TWI Knowledge Summary
Manufacturing - production planning and scheduling
Description
Planning is a necessary function within any organisation that produces something. In the manufacturing environment this function is often complex because of the rate of change, number of parts, and occurrences of unplanned events. There are several different methodologies used depending on the rate of demand of the customer and price of the product. Nevertheless the objectives remain the same for each scenario; efficiency (minimisation of waste) and effectiveness (supply to demand).Planning is carried out so that activities and resources are co-ordinated over time to achieve the goals with as little resource consumption as possible. Planning must be done so that the progress of the plan can be monitored at regular intervals and control over operations can be maintained. Planning in the manufacturing environment involves four elements: scheduling, labour planning, equipment planning, and cost planning.
- Scheduling involves specifying the start, duration, and end of the various activities
- Labour planning involves allocation of personnel, distribution of responsibilities and resources
- Equipment planning involves identification of types and need of equipment
- Cost planning involves identification of costs and when they will occur
Current issues and developments
Software and systems for routine production planning of standard products and project planning of one off large products are commonplace and readily available off the shelf. However, many companies are moving away from mass production and long term projects towards the mass production of customised products. This is an area of current thinking and development because the planning and scheduling of activities becomes a more complex and critical task due to the non-routine short time scales. This has arisen because such products require different resources at different times and for different durations. The costs of producing each product will also vary.The application of software in this environment is of great benefit in coping with such rapidly changing demand. The software helps the organisation reschedule and reallocate the resources to minimise cost. In such an environment of rapid change, it is crucial that components are traced through the organisation on an individual basis.
All these developments are aimed at reducing inventory and supplying the customer with their products on time.
The manufacturing environment is often unpredictable and risk must be minimised to prevent deviation from the plan and time schedule. Critical to achieving this is successful management of the supply chain, and a holistic approach to manufacturing planning.
Further information
If you have a query on this subject please email TWI's Manufacturing Support Department. manufacturing.support@twi.co.uk
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