Planning and Execution in the Manufacturing Industry

Maintaining a competitive edge in the market requires hard work. All across the globe, manufacturers keep pushing themselves to become more efficient and more successful. In order to achieve both, you need to have the right knowledge on some key components, production planning and production control.

Production planning and control does precisely what it says, allowing manufacturers to come up with a plan for production, execute and carry out that plan, and to have control over operations by continually improving initiatives. These processes are related, but are also defined by four stages: routing, scheduling, dispatching, and follow-up. The first two stages relate closely to production planning, while the second two relate to production control.

Routing refers to the path where materials flow within the facility. This stage tracks both quantity and quality of materials, the resources involved, the order of operations, and the location of the job. By optimizing how resources are utilized, they can be sure to get the best results.

After knowing the “where” and “what”, you need to determine the “when.” This happens with the scheduling phase. It measures more than just when the process comes to completion, but when to begin every step along the way. Scheduling should be used for daily tasks as well, not just for larger projects.

To ensure that operations have been completed successfully, dispatching orders must be seen through. This includes issuing orders for initiating work, determining what materials are important for the production, maintaining records from beginning to end, controlling the procedures, and letting work efficiently flow from one stage to the next.

Finally, is the follow-up, when you want to measure how well the performance has gone. If you need to find any faults, defects, or slowdowns, then following up will allow you to reflect on what went well and what needs improvement. Follow-up also will guarantee that with the kinks worked out, the next time the process is run, it will move much more smoothly.

Optimizing the production process does not come instantaneously, but involves planning and control, so everything will be at the right place at the right time. For more information on improving the production planning and control of your business, call Cybergear today at (586) 531-7116. 

Because our mission is to help our clients improve, we treat your capital as if it were our own. By combining lean and factory physics concepts with digital manufacturing, Cybergear helps manufacturers remain adaptable in a constantly changing industry by increasing quality, efficiency, and ultimately—profits.