What is production planning?
Production planning ensures efficient and smooth production. A production plan takes many factors into account:
- Equipment / machines
- Available personnel
- Required quantities of material
- Available skills / necessary training
- Work processes / time required
- Sales / demand forecast
- Urgency and sequence of orders
- Order monitoring
The responsibility for drawing up production plans usually lies in the hands of production managers who also supervise production.
The objectives of production planning are manifold: in principle, a good production plan makes the best possible use of available capacities and resources in order to complete orders on time.
However, production planning is not only about reliable and punctual delivery, but also about the most cost-effective manufacturing process and the best possible production. Procurement and logistics costs must also be taken into account. In addition, the production facilities should be well utilized in every work shift and inventories should be kept low.
