What is Production Planning? 

Production planning accounting for the manner and timing of every step in a series of separate operations to accomplish an objective. 

What are the Constraints on Production?

The primary constraint on operations include: 

• Capacity constraints – products and services must be produced within the designed capacity limits of the operation.
• Timing constraints – products and services must be produced within the time when they still have value for the customer.
• Quality constraints – products and services must conform to the designed tolerance limits of the product or service.

Production planning involves the following steps:

• Routing
• Scheduling
• Loading

Production control involves:

• Dispatching
• Following up
• Inspection
• Corrective

What is Routing? 

This is establishing the operations, their path and sequence are established in the best and cheapest sequence of operations.

Routing procedure involves following different activities.

• An analysis of the article to determine what to make and what to buy.
• To determine the quality and type of material
• Determining the manufacturing operations and their sequence.
• A determination of lot sizes
• Determination of scrap factors
• An analysis of cost of the article
• Organization of production control forms.

What is Scheduling? 

It means working out of time that should be required to perform each operation and also the time necessary to perform the entire series as routed, making allowances for all factors concerned. 

The pattern of scheduling differs from one job to another which is explained as below:

Production schedule: Schedule that amount of work which can easily be handled without interference. Its not independent decision as it takes into account facilities, personnel, and materials. 

Master Schedule: A weekly or monthly break-down of the production requirement for each product for a definite time period. This is a running record of total production requirements. This forms a base for all subsequent scheduling acclivities. 

Operator Schedule: An operator schedule fixes the total time required to do a piece of work with a given machine or which shows the time required to do each detailed operation of a given job with a given machine or process.

Manufacturing schedule: It shows the required quality of each product and sequence in which the same to be operated.

Scheduling of Job Order Manufacturing: In job order manufacturing, the schedule enables the speedy execution of job at each center point. This may include any of four types of schedules: 

• enquiry schedule, 
• a production schedule, 
• a shop schedule, and 
• an arrears schedule 

What is Loading?

Loading is the creation of a schedule plan. It entails the assignment of the work to the operators at their machines or work places. That is, loading determines who will do the work. 

What is Production control?

Production control is the process of: 

• planning production in advance of operations, 
• establishing the extract route of each individual item part or assembly, 
• setting, starting and finishing for each important item, 
• assembly or the finishing production and releasing the necessary orders as well as initiating the necessary follow-up.

What is Dispatching? 

Dispatching involves issue of production orders for starting the operations. Necessary authority and conformation is given for:

1. Movement of materials to different workstations.
2. Movement of tools and fixtures necessary for each operation.
3. Beginning of work on each operation.
4. Recording of time and cost involved in each operation.
5. Movement of work from one operation to another in accordance with the route sheet.
6. Inspecting or supervision of work

Dispatching is an important step as it translates production plans into production.

What is Follow up? 

Follow up means scrutinizing  the progress of work. It involves efficiency measures, such as: 

• removing bottlenecks 
• ensuring that the productive operations are taking place in accordance with the plans. 
• identify detects in routing and scheduling, misunderstanding of orders and instruction, under loading or overloading of work etc. 
• investigate all problems or deviations and take remedial measures.

What is Inspection? 

Inspection ensures the quality of goods. 

What are Corrective Measures? 

Corrective action may involve any of the following activities: 

• adjusting the route, 
• rescheduling of work changing the workloads, 
• repairs and maintenance of machinery or equipment, 
• control over inventories of the cause of deviation is the poor performance of the employees. 
• personnel decisions (e.g., training, transfer, demotion etc.)