Production Scheduling Minimizes Time and Costs
Production Planning and Control Improve Operational Productivity
Feb 19, 2009
Production schedules typically consist of machine loading charts, workforce rosters and materials requisition sheets. They also specify the items to be produced and the quantities to be produced. Shop floor managers thus have a complete picture of what they have to achieve and the resources available to achieve it.
Production Schedules Make Production Control Possible
With the detailed targets and other specifics provided by the production schedule, shop floor managers can monitor performance of all the factors involved, viz.
- Machine productivity
- Labor productivity
- Materials usage
They are also able to monitor and report on machine availability, worker absenteeism and timely availability of materials. Analyzing such reports, management can identify the factors that are reducing productivity of operations. For example, unscheduled machine downtimes can point to inadequate maintenance, high absenteeism can point to employee grievances and materials unavailability can point to poor purchasing management.
It is information like this that makes production control possible. Without effective production control, it might become impossible to meet delivery commitments. Poor production control also increases costs as when plant capacity utilization goes below optimum levels. For example, machines can remain idle because materials or operators were not available in time.
Production Planning and Production Scheduling
Production planning is a longer term exercise. Based on sales estimates, master production schedules are prepared. Capacity and materials requirement planning follows the master schedule. If capacities are inadequate for the planned production levels, capacity must be enhanced or production targets lowered.
Production scheduling is a short-term exercise with detailed schedules for individual machines. Original schedules might have to be revised based on scheduling constraints. For example, required machines might not be available or required materials might still be in transit.
The final schedules are dispatched to shop floor supervisors, who load the jobs, collect production and other data and report to their managers.
Production Scheduling Benefits
Production scheduling:
- Enables deciding whether delivery commitments can be met
- Enables maintenance scheduling with minimal impact on production activities
- Provides shop floor supervisors with specific instructions enabling them start on the work straightaway
- Also provides them specific targets to check whether performance is up to standard
- Enables uninterrupted production thus reducing funds locked up as work-in-progress
- Enhances throughputs and utilization of machine and worker capacities
Scheduling Constraints
Before scheduling software arrived on the scene, production scheduling was a slow and cumbersome manual process with far from satisfactory results. Now that computer-based tools have made scheduling a far better exercise, new constraints have emerged.
- Accurate information needed for proper scheduling is often not available
- Sudden changes to plans and schedules is a frequent enough occurrence
- Scheduling still requires human inputs that cannot be automated
- System problems can impact on schedule preparation, which must be done without fail
- Organizational problems too can impact on how good the production schedules turn out to be
Production scheduling provides specific instructions and measurable targets to shop floor supervisors and they are thus enabled to get operations under way quickly and also to check whether the work is measuring up to standard. Quick throughput and optimal capacity utilization reduces both times and costs required for production activities.
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