UNIT -I

INTRODUCTION

Production Planning is a managerial function which is mainly concerned with the

following important issues:

What production facilities are required?

How these production facilities should be laid down in the space available for
production? and
How they should be used to produce the desired products at the desired rate of production?

Broadly speaking, production planning is concerned with two main aspects: (i) routing or planning
work tasks (ii) layout or spatial relationship between the resources. Production planning is dynamic
in nature and always remains in fluid state as plans may have to be changed according to the
changes in circumstances.

Production control is a mechanism to monitor the execution of the plans. It has several
important functions:

• Making sure that production operations are started at planned places and planned times.
• Observing progress of the operations and recording it properly.
• Analyzing the recorded data with the plans and measuring the deviations.
• Taking immediate corrective actions to minimize the negative impact of deviations from
the plans.
• Feeding back the recorded information to the planning section in order to improve
future plans.

OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITS

o • Minimize costs / maximize profits
o • Maximize customer service
o • Minimize inventory investment
o • Minimize changes in production rates
o • Minimize changes in work-force levels
o • Maximize the utilization of plant and equipment

FUNCTIONS OF PRODUCTION CONTROL

• Production function encompasses the activities of procurement, allocation and utilization of resources.
• The main objective of production function is to produce the goods and services demanded by the
customers in the most efficient and economical way.
• Therefore efficient management of the production function is of utmost importance in order to achieve this
objective.

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A block diagram depicting the architecture of a control system is shown in Figure.

Figure 1: Architecture of Control System

Important functions covered by production planning and control (PPC) function in

any manufacturing system are shown in Table1along with the issues to be covered.

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 Table 1: Production Planning and control Functions

Functions Issues to be covered

Product
Design& Customer needs, market needs, availability of similar product, demand-supply gap,
Developme functional aspects, operational aspects, environmental aspects etc.
nt
Demand Quantity, Quality,
Demand pattern.
Forecasting
Capacity No. of machines, No. of tooling, workers, No.of flow lines, Quantity, Quality and rate
Planning of production, demand pattern.
Equipment
s Selection No. of machines, type of M/c, Quality aspects, Quantity aspects, rate of production,
& Cost of equipments, support from the supplier, maintenance policy, storage of spare
Maintenan parts.
ce
Tooling Compactability between w/c steels, No. of tools, their cost, their material etc, storage
Selection policy.
Material
Selection
Types, specification, quality aspect, quantity aspect, cost, supplies reputation , lot size,
&
Manageme inventory levels, setup cost, mode of transportation etc.
nt
Process Generation of manufacture instruction, selection of M/c, tools, parameters, sequence
Planning etc.
Division of work load, assignment of tasks, uniform loading, matching between
Loading capability & capacity with job requirements.
Path selection for material movement as per the process plan and loading, minimum
Routing material handling and waiting time.
Scheduling Time based loading, start and finish times, due dates, dispatching rules, re-scheduling.
Expediting Operation Scheduling and order and progress reporting.

Types of Production Systems

A production system can be defined as a transformation system in which a saleable product or service
is created by working upon a set of inputs. Inputs are usually in the form of men, machine, money,
materials etc. Production systems are usually classified on the basis of the following:

Type of product,
Type of production line,
Rate of production,
Equipments used etc.





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They are broadly classified into three categories:

Job shop production

Batch production
Mass production

Job shop Production

In this system products are made to satisfy a specific order. However that order may be produced-

only once
or at irregular time intervals as and when new order arrives
or at regular time intervals to satisfy a continuous demand

The following are the important characteristics of job shop type production system:

Machines and methods employed should be general purpose as product changes are
quite frequent.
Planning and control system should be flexible enough to deal with the frequent changes in
product requirements.
Man power should be skilled enough to deal with changing work conditions.
Schedules are actually non existent in this system as no definite data is available on
the product.
In process inventory will usually be high as accurate plans and schedules do not exist.
Product cost is normally high because of high material and labor costs.
Grouping of machines is done on functional basis (i.e. as lathe section, milling section etc.)
This system is very flexible as management has to manufacture varying product types.
Material handling systems are also flexible to meet changing product requirements.

Batch Production

Batch production is the manufacture of a number of identical articles either to meet a specific
order or to meet a continuous demand. Batch can be manufactured either-

only once
or repeatedly at irregular time intervals as and when demand arise
or repeatedly at regular time intervals to satisfy a continuous demand The

following are the important characteristics of batch type production system:

As final product is somewhat standard and manufactured in batches, economy of scale can
be availed to some extent.
Machines are grouped on functional basis similar to the job shop manufacturing.
Semi automatic, special purpose automatic machines are generally used to take advantage
of the similarity among the products.
Labor should be skilled enough to work upon different product batches.
In process inventory is usually high owing to the type of layout and material
handling policies adopted.
Semi automatic material handling systems are most appropriate in conjunction with the
semi automatic machines.
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
Mass Production

In mass production, same type of product is manufactured to meet the continuous demand of the
product. Usually demand of the product is very high and market is going to sustain same demand
for sufficiently long time.

The following are the important characteristics of mass production system:

As same product is manufactured for sufficiently long time, machines can be laid down in
order of processing sequence. Product type layout is most appropriate for mass
production system.
Standard methods and machines are used during part manufacture.
Most of the equipments are semi automatic or automatic in nature.
Material handling is also automatic (such as conveyors).
Semi skilled workers are normally employed as most of the facilities are automatic.
As product flows along a pre defined line, planning and control of the system is much easier.
Cost of production is low owing to the high rate of production.
In process inventories are low as production scheduling is simple and can be
implemented with ease.

PRODUCT DESIGN

Product design is a strategic decision as the image and profit earning capacity of a small
firm depends largely on product design. Once the product to be produced is decided by the
entrepreneur the next step is to prepare its design. Product design consists of form and
function. The form designing includes decisions regarding its shape, size, color and
appearance of the product. The functional design involves the working conditions of the
product. Once a product is designed, it prevails for a long time therefore various factors are
to be considered before designing it. These

factors are listed below: -

(a) Standardization
(b) Reliability
(c) Maintainability
(d) Servicing
(e) Reproducibility
(f) Sustainability
(g) Product simplification
(h) Quality Commensuration with cost
(i) Product value
(j) Consumer quality
(k) Needs and tastes of consumers.

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 Above all, the product design should be dictated by the market demand. It is an important
decision and therefore the entrepreneur should pay due effort, time,energy and attention in
order to get the best results.

TYPES OF PRODUCTION

Broadly one can think of three types of production systems which are
mentioned here under: -

(a) Continuous production

(b) Job or unit production
(c) Intermittent production

(a) Continuous production: - It refers to the production of standardized products with a standard
set of process and operation sequence in anticipation of demand. It is also known as mass flow
production or assembly line productionThis system ensures less work in process inventory and high
product quality butinvolves large investment in machinery and equipment. The system is suitable in
117plants involving large volume and small variety of output e.g. oil refineries reform cement
manufacturing etc.

(b) Job or Unit production: - It involves production as per customer's specification each batch
or order consists of a small lot of identical products andis different from other batches. The
system requires comparatively smallerinvestment in machines and equipment. It is flexible and
can be adapted tochanges in product design and order size without much inconvenience. This
system is most suitable where heterogeneous products are produced againstspecific orders.

(c) Intermittent Production: Under this system the goods are produced partly for inventory and
partly for customer's orders. E.g. components are made forinventory but they are combined
differently for different customers. . Automobileplants, printing presses, electrical goods plant
are examples of this type ofmanufacturing.

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 Intermittent production

• Under this system the goods are produced partly for inventory and partly for customer's orders.
• E.g. components are made for inventory but they are combined differently for different customers. .
• Automobile plants, printing presses, electrical goods plant

MARKETING ASPECT
• Sales and Marketing is a key function whose participation is often hard to enlist.

• Sales and Marketing are critical functions in this process, since they provide the starting point of the

planning and scheduling process ‑‑ the forecasts and customer order demands

• They are also vital from the viewpoint of providing the proper customer perspective whenever changes
need to be made to plans and schedules based on mismatches of resources to customer demands.

• Only with a proper level of participation in Planning and Scheduling, can Sales and Marketing optimally

leverage its performance and create a trusting and consensus based working relationship with

Manufacturing, Purchasing, Planning, Engineering and all other functions in the company.

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Standardization

• Sizes for screws, nuts bolts and other threaded fasteners were first standardized based on work of by
Joseph Whitworth..
• Pipe sizes
• Shoe size standardization
• The screw base size and thread dimensions of electric lamp bulbs was standardized by Thomas Edison.

• Electrical voltage and frequency

• Electrical wiring and device standards