Production planning and control

PRODUCTION PLANNING AND CONTROL

 Production is an organized activity of converting raw materials into useful

products. But before starting the work of actual production, production
planning is done in order to anticipate possible difficulties and decide in
advance as to how the production should be carried out in a best and
economical way.
 The aim of production control is to produce the products of right quality,
in right quantity, at the right time by using the best and least expensive
methods.
 Planning means preparing the scheme in advance before the actual work
is started. It may also be defined as the pre-determination of future
achievement to meet the desired objectives.
 Before starting the production, it is necessary to decide in advance what
to produce, how much to produce, where to produce and where to sell.
 Therefore production planning is the pre-determination of future
achievements in type of product, volume of production, quality, time, price in
manufacture and the resources required. It analyses all the problems likely to
arise in manufacture and decides in advance how these difficulties can be
overcome.
 Control means the supervision of all the relevant operations with the help
of control mechanism that feeds back the progress of the work.
DEFINITION OF PPC

• “Production planning and control can thus be

defined as the process of planning the production in
advance, setting the exact route of each item, fixing
the starting and finishing dates for each item, to give
production orders to shops and lastly to follow-up
the progress of products according to orders”
• “Production planning and control may be defined as
the direction and co-ordination of the firms material
and physical facilities towards the attainment of pre-
specified production goals, in the most efficient and
economical manner”
• “The highest efficiency in production is obtained by
manufacturing the required quantity of the product,
of the required quality, at the required time, by the
best and cheapest method”
OBJECTIVES OF PPC

1. To deliver the product to the customer when he

wants it
2. To follow up production schedules to ensure that
delivery promises are maintained
3. To maintain quality at desired level i.e. same as
that of approved sample
4. To utilize optimum plant capacities
5. To maintain flexibility in manufacturing operation,
so that emergency rush can be accommodated
6. To maintain adequate level of inventories, as
excess or shortage both are harmful
7. To co-ordinate labour, machines and equipment in
the most effective and economic manner.
8. Ensuring smooth flow of materials by eliminating
bottlenecks if any, in production
FUNCTIONS OF PPC
1. Materials
2. Methods
3. Machines and equipment
4. Manpower
5. Routing
6. Estimating
7. Loading & scheduling
8. Dispatching
9. Inspection & quality control
10. Expediting
11. Evaluation
 FUNCTIONS OF PPC
 Materials: The selection of materials for the product. Production manager
must have sound Knowledge of materials and their properties, so that he
can select appropriate materials for his product. Research on materials is
necessary to find alternatives to satisfy the changing needs of the design in
the product and availability of material resumes.

 Methods: Finding the best method for the process, to search for the
methods to suit the available resources, identifying the sequence of process
are some of the activities of Production Management.

 Machines and Equipment: Selection of suitable machinery for the process

desired, designing the maintenance policy and design of layout of machines
are taken care of by the Production Management department.

 Estimating: To fix up the Production targets and delivery dates and to keep
the production costs at minimum, production management department does
a thorough estimation of Production times and production costs. In
competitive situation this will help the management to decide what should
be done in arresting the costs at desired level
 FUNCTIONS OF PPC
 Loading and Scheduling: The Production Management department has to
draw the time table for various production activities, specifying when to start
and when to finish the process required. It also has to draw the timings of
materials movement and plan the activities of manpower. The scheduling is
to be done keeping in mind the loads on hand and capacities of facilities
available.

 Routing: This is the most important function of Production Management

department. The Routing consists of fixing the flow lines for various raw
materials, components etc., from the stores to the packing of finished
product, so that all concerned knows what exactly is happening on the shop
floor.
 Dispatching: The Production Management department has to prepare
various documents such as Job Cards, Route sheets, Move Cards,
Inspection Cards for each and every component of the product. These are
prepared in a set of five copies. These documents are to be released from
Production Management department to give green signal for starting the
production. The activities of the shop floor will follow the instructions given
in these documents. Activity of releasing the document is known as
dispatching.
 FUNCTIONS OF PPC
 Expediting or Follow up: Once the documents are dispatched, the
management wants to know whether the activities are being carried out as
per the plans or not. Expediting engineers go round the production floor
along with the plans, compare the actual with the plan and feed back the
progress of the work to the management. This will help the management to
evaluate the plans.

 Inspection: Here inspection is generally concerned with the inspection

activities during production, but a separate quality control department does
the quality inspection, which is not under the control of Production
Management.
This is true because, if the quality inspection is given to production
Management, then there is a chance of qualifying the defective products
also. For example Teaching and examining of students is given to the same
person, and then there is a possibility of passing all the students in the first
grade. To avoid this situation an external person does correction of answer
scripts, so that the quality of answers is correctly judged.
 FUNCTIONS OF PPC
 Evaluation: The Production department must evaluate itself and its
contribution in fulfilling the corporate objectives and the departmental
objectives. This is necessary for setting up the standards for future.
Whatever may be the size of the firm; Production management department
alone must do Routing, Scheduling, Loading, Dispatching and expediting.
This is because this department knows very well regarding materials,
Methods, and available resources etc.

If the firms are small, all the above-mentioned functions are to be carried
out by Production Management Department. In medium sized firms in
addition to Routing, Scheduling and Loading, Dispatching and expediting,
some more functions like Methods, Machines may be under the control of
Production Management Department.

In large firms, there will be Separate departments for Methods, Machines,

Materials and others but routing, loading and scheduling are the sole
functions of Production Management.
ADVANTAGES OF PPC
1. Improvement in volume of production within quality
limits
2. Optimum utilization of plant capacity, this enables
the utilization of capital investment
3. To improve the level of quality and maintain
consistency in standard
4. Improved process efficiency. This enables the
enhancement of efficiency of operator (worker)
5. Systematic working acts as motivator for a
workman. Job satisfaction can also be achieved as
workers are engaged for the works best suited for
them. This also creates interest for working.
STEPS IN PRODUCTION PLANNING

1. To decide whether to follow job, batch or mass production

system
2. Sales forecasting for estimation of type, quantity and quality
of production system
3. Planning to meet seasonal demands. Many products have
seasonal demands, which needs to be predicted, and
planning is made to meet this demand by timely procurement
of material, planning the production and those of sales
4. Planning the process. Process planning means the
preparation of detailed work plan i.e. manufacturing plan
5. Determine the economic batch quantity for manufacturing the
product
6. Tools planning. This involves determining tool requirements,
plan for procurement, and plan for their maintenance
7. Machine loading and scheduling
Thank you