What is Production Planning and

Control
PPC stands for production planning and control. Production planning and control as
a department plays a vital role in manufacturing organizations. It is clear from name
that it is something about planning. Planning is defined as setting goals. PPC deals
with setting goals for production. Preparation of Production plan is one of core
responsibility of PPC.
PPC coordinate with different departments: such as Production, Marketing, Logistics,
Warehouse and other departments depending upon nature of organization. PPC
receives data related to orders from marketing department. Production plan based
on marketing and production data is prepared in PPC. This production plan provides
clear idea about utilization of manufacturing resources for production. Prepared
production plan is delivered to production department. Production department
manufacture products according to that plan.
PPC provides different kind of information to different departments. It provides
information about available manufacturing resources to Marketing department.
Marketing department receives orders according to that information. Similarly, it
coordinates with other departments and provides relevant information.
A production planner or Manger PPC prepares plan for production. Manager PPC
receives and disseminates information to different departments. Manager PPC uses
his skills and software to prepare production Plan. Other than preparing production
plan, Manager PPC supervises his team, coordinates with Production manager
regarding production status. Manager PPC also frequently coordinates with Manager
Marketing to provide him information about available manufacturing resources.
Employment in PPC depends upon education and experience. Some organization
prefers relevant industry engineering degree holder and others prefers MBAs and
other education according to their policy. Working in PPC is challenging task. It
requires analytical skills and understanding of manufacturing process. One should
be quick and well versed in IT applications to perform this job. There are
opportunities of growth and learning in PPC.
A good PPC will provide for adherence to the quality standards so that quality of
output is ensured.
PPC is of immense value to the entrepreneur in capacity utilization and inventory
control.

Steps of production planning and control

Production Planning and Control (PPC) is a process that comprises the performance
of some critical functions including planning as well as control. See figure.
PPC Process
Production planning: Production planning may be defined as the technique of
foreseeing every step in a long series of separate operations, each step to be taken
at the right time and in the right place and each operation to be performed in
maximum efficiency. It helps entrepreneur to work out the quantity of material
manpower, machine and money requires for producing predetermined level of
output in given period of time.
Routing: Under this, the operations, their path and sequence are established. To
perform these operations the proper class of machines and personnel required are
also worked out. The main aim of routing is to determine the best and cheapest
sequence of operations and to ensure that this sequence is strictly followed. In small
enterprises, this job is usually done by entrepreneur himself in a rather ad-hoc
manner. Routing procedure involves following different activities.

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)

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.

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. It mainly concerns with time element and priorities of a
job. The pattern of scheduling differs from one job to another which is explained as
below:
Production schedule:
The main aim is to schedule that amount of work which can easily be handled by
plant and equipment without interference. Its not independent decision as it takes
into account following factors.
(1) Physical plant facilities of the type required to process the material being
scheduled.
(2) Personnel who possess the desired skills and experience to operate the
equipment and perform the type of work involved.
(3) Necessary materials and purchased parts.
Master Schedule:
Scheduling usually starts with preparation of master schedule which is weekly or
monthly break-down of the production requirement for each product for a definite
time period, by having this as a running record of total production requirements the
entrepreneur is in better position to shift the production from one product to
another as per the changed production requirements. This forms a base for all
subsequent scheduling acclivities. A master schedule is followed by operator
schedule which fixes 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 is prepared on the basis of type of manufacturing process involved. It is very
useful where single or few products are manufactured repeatedly at regular
intervals. Thus it would show the required quality of each product and sequence in

which the same to be operated

Scheduling of Job order manufacturing:
Scheduling acquires greater importance in job order manufacturing. This will enable
the speedy execution of job at each center point.
As far as small scale industry is concerned scheduling is of utmost importance as it
brings out efficiency in the operations and reduces cost price. The small
entrepreneur should maintain four types of schedules to have a close scrutiny of all
stages namely an enquiry schedule, a production schedule, a shop schedule and an
arrears schedule out of above four, a shop schedule is the most important most
suited to the needs of small scale industry as it enables a foreman to see at a
glance.
1. The total load on any section
2. The operational sequence
3. The stage, which any job has reached.
Loading: The next step is the execution of the schedule plan as per the route
chalked out it includes the assignment of the work to the operators at their
machines or work places. So loading determines who will do the work as routing
determines where and scheduling determines when it shall be done. Gantt Charts
are most commonly used in small industries in order to determine the existing load
and also to foresee how fast a job can be done. The usefulness of their technique
lies in the fact that they compare what has been done and what ought to have been
done.
Most of a small scale enterprise fail due to non-adherence to delivery schedules
therefore they can be successful if they have ability to meet delivery order in time
which no doubt depends upon production of quality goods in right time. It makes all
the more important for entrepreneur to judge ahead of time what should be done,
where and when thus to leave nothing to chance once the work has begun.
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 to have the smooth function of the enterprise.
The production control is of complicated nature in small industries. The production
planning and control department can function at its best in small scale unit only
when the work manager, the purchase manager, the personnel manager and the
financial controller assist in planning production activities. The production controller
directly reports to the works manager but in small scale unit, all the three functions
namely material control, planning and control are often performed by the
entrepreneur himself production control starts with dispatching and ends up with

corrective actions.
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.
Follow up: Every production programme involves determination of the progress of
work, removing bottlenecks in the flow of work and ensuring that the productive
operations are taking place in accordance with the plans. It spots delays or
deviations from the production plans. It helps to reveal detects in routing and
scheduling, misunderstanding of orders and instruction. All problems or deviations
are investigated and remedial measurer are undertaken to ensure the completion of
work by the planned date.
Inspection: This is mainly to ensure the quality of goods. It can be required as
effective agency of production control.
Corrective measures: Corrective action may involve any of those activities of
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. Certain personnel decisions
like training, transfer, demotion etc. may have to be taken.