This content is for information purposes only and should not be considered legal, accounting, or tax advice, or a substitute for obtaining such advice specific to your business. Naturally, the manufacturing process doesn’t apply in retail or distribution, but a careful analysis of supply chain dynamics are just as important to their success. Likewise, distribution facilities can use production planning in procurement to ensure they can fulfill their buyers’ needs. However, retailers will utilize similar methodologies and forecasts when peak holiday shopping seasons require that supply equals increased demand. Manufacturing companies are the most common type of business when resource planning comes to mind.
At present staffing levels, will you have enough production workers to satisfy customer demand? Or will you need to hire more personnel or run more shifts? Labor management is another key factor in production planning. If not, you may need to add square footage or machinery to your production facility. Judging by the quantity ordered and other obligations you may have in the pipeline, you should know whether you can meet production capacity by the time the customer expects delivery. If you have enough material requirements on hand, it will be easier to arrive at the cost of production from an existing bill of materials.ĭepending on the size of that initial order, the next variable to look at is capacity planning. Initially, you’ll want to make sure you have an adequate supply of raw materials on hand to fill the order from a quantity perspective. With the anticipation of increasing sales, manufacturers should assess certain factors that contribute to producing quality products and happy customers. Let’s take a look at production planning from the perspective of a manufacturer, where we can see basic production planning and control in motion. Production planning is a preemptive process that enables businesses to optimize their resources, enhance worker productivity, and increase customer loyalty. Often, they are integrated with Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to better control order execution and with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to ensure continuous alignment with customer demand and sales.Effective production planning is a vital part of business operations for finding cost efficiencies and protecting the bottom line. Digital production planning solutions can be, but rarely are, standalone systems. Production plans must also be flexible and react quickly to the changes and fluctuations of the markets and the needs of the business. Production planning should always take into account material availability, resource availability and knowledge of future demand.
Schedule and choose the actual work to be started in the manufacturing facility.Ī critical factor in production planning is the accurate estimation of the productive capacity of available resources.Match the required level of production to the existing resources.
Determine the required product mix and factory load to satisfy customer needs.In order to produce a complete and flexible production plan, a successful planning solution will: A production plan can be made periodically for a specific time period, called the planning horizon (short-term, medium-term, long-term, etc.). The Right Production Plan for Youĭifferent types of production methods, such as single item manufacturing, batch production, mass production, continuous production, etc., have their own type of production planning. They drive lean manufacturing, because they synchronize the optimum utilization of all your resources and equipment to ensure that each order is produced on time, within budget and meeting all quality standards. They make sure your orders are fulfilled in the most efficient way, without interruptions, delay or resources wasted. Technology solutions for Production Planning & Scheduling help ensure that the manufacturing process flows with maximum efficiency. In order to avoid the pitfalls of unreliable order management, manufacturers need a solid planning process supported by the right technology. Without a solid and reliable plan to manage and schedule orders, even the simplest manufacturing business can lose money. Managing Production Planning & Schedulingĭue to the wide array of factors that must be managed – team members, raw materials, workstations, processes and supplies - Production Planning & Scheduling in manufacturing is especially challenging.