State the objectives of production planning and control. Explain briefly the functions of planning in “Facility Planning” for production activities?

Manufacture planning and control involves the procurement and allocation of limited resources over a specified time horizon to carry out production activities so as to satisfy the demands of the customer. Planning and control problems are characteristically optimisation problems. Here, the objective is to come up with a plan that meets demand at a minimum cost or that fulfills the demand which maximises profit.

The manufacturing planning and control deals with the decisions of utilisation, acquisition, and resources allocation because it is important to satisfy the customer requirements in a cost effective and efficient way. Usually, decisions taken include the level of work force, production lot sizes, assignment of overtime, and sequencing of production runs.

Following are the essential functions/tasks of production planning.

Planning

Production planning is defined as the technique of anticipating every step in a long series of separate operations. It helps the entrepreneur to calculate the quantity of material, manpower, machinery, and capital required for producing a planned level of output in a specified time period.

Routing

The main purpose of routing is to find out the best and cheapest sequence of operations and to make sure that this order is exactly followed. Routing involves the following different activities.

· Evaluating the document to determine what components to make and what components to buy.

· Ascertaining the quality and type of material.

· Establishing the sequence of manufacturing operations.

· Determining lot sizes.

· Finding out the scrap factors.

· Analysing the cost of the article.

· Organising the different production control forms.

Scheduling

This means evaluating the time that would be required to carry out each function and also the time needed to perform the entire series. It is primarily concerned with the time element and priorities of a job. The model of scheduling differs from one job to another which is explained as below:

Production schedule: The main purpose of production schedule is to schedule the amount of work, which can be easily handled by the plant and equipment without any hindrance. It is not an independent decision, as it takes the following factors into account.

· Physical plant facilities required to process the material being scheduled.

· Employees who possess the skills and experience to perform the type of work involved and operate the equipment.

· Required materials and purchased parts.

Master Schedule: Scheduling typically begins with the preparation of the master schedule, which is weekly or monthly categorisation of the requirement of production for each product for a specified time period. This helps the entrepreneur to shift the production from one product to another according to the changed production