A production plan may be defined as a plan for specific products to be produced in each time period such as inventory, production and staffing. It is commonly used in manufacturing where the plan shows what quantity of a certain product will be demanded and when this demand will arise. The plan quantifies a considerable number of parts, processes or other resources in order to maximise production, single out bottle necks and project needs and completed commodities.
Since a production programme controls most of the factory’s operations, its viability and accuracy have a significant effect on profitability. Production schedule is usually generated by software and then constantly modified by users to respond to real world changes. The production programme facilitates production planning by converting consumer demand such as PIR’s and sales into a build plan through the use of planned orders in a true component scheduling environment. The use of a production scheduling is also beneficial in the sense that it aids in the prevention of shortages, inefficient resource allocation, costly expenditures and last minute scheduling. Working with these schedules gives businesses the ability to consolidate planned parts and generate forecasts for any level of the bill of material for any kind of component.
Benefits of using a production schedule
Through the use of variable input, the schedule of production will create a set of outputs to be used in the decision making process. Inputs may include: inventory money, inventory progress, capacity, client preferences, and costs of production, production lead time, lot size and supply. Inputs can be generated automatically by a resource planning schedule that connects a sales department with the manufacturing department. For example, when the sales department makes a record of a sale, the projected demand may be automatically adjusted to meet the new demand. Inputs may also be fed into the system from projections that have been generated manually. Examples of outputs are: number of staff available,
- Projected available balance,
- The amount to be produced
- The quantity available to promise.
The outputs may also be used to create a material requirements planning schedule. It mayalso be a necessary investment for organisations that need to synchronize their operations in order to attain greater levels of efficiency. A successful production scheduling system is ultimately meant to provide the production, management, purchasing and planning departments with accurate information to control and plan for manufacturing, the schedule should link general business plans and forecasts to detail activities, give the marketing department the ability to make accurate promises of delivery to consumers and warehousing facilities.
Though production scheduling is an effective means for improving operational efficiency. It remains imperative to note that the schedule rarely includes all elements of production. Due to limitations in software, the schedule will only include the aspects of production that can be adequately controlled.