Production planning is important because it creates an efficient process for production according to customer and organizational needs. It optimizes both customer-dependent processes — such as on-time delivery — and customer-independent processes, such as production cycle time.

For efficient, effective and economical operation in a manufacturing unit of an organization, it is essential to integrate the production planning and control system. Production planning and subsequent production control follow adaption of product design and finalization of a production process. Production planning is an activity that is performed before the actual production process takes place. It involves determining the schedule of production, sequence of operations, economic batch quantities, and also the dispatching priorities for sequencing of jobs. Production control is mainly involved in implementing production schedules and is the corollary to short-term production planning or scheduling. Production control includes initiating production, dispatching items, progressing and then finally reporting back to production planning. In general terms, production planning means planning of the work to be done later and production control refers to working out or the implementation of the plan.

Importance of Production Planning and Control

For many manufacturers, the techniques and strategies used in production planning and control have been extremely beneficial in improving their operations. Some of the most beneficial features of production planning and control include the following:

• Customer Service Enhancement – The production planning component of PPC ensures that the organization can deliver a finished product on time. Customers can benefit from having high-quality products being delivered promptly due to improved scheduling and optimized production. These improvements ultimately win customers over and can persuade them to establish a profitable and ongoing relationship with the manufacturing organization.
• Inventory Control – Proper inventory management can be a challenging thing to achieve as planners must balance holding enough inventory to satisfy customer demand while minimizing the risks and costs of holding too much inventory. With a promising production planning and control system, inventory planning becomes much easier. These types of systems allow planners to only purchase enough materials to fulfill orders which reduces the need for holding a lot of raw materials. In addition, they can provide the tools for utilizing a Just-In-Time scheduling strategy, which further reduces the need for holding finished goods or large quantities of work-in-process items.
• Equipment Improvement – Production planning and control will ultimately unveil areas and machines that are not able to meet their production targets. These could signal a lack of productivity due to faulty equipment which can be remedied by scheduling regular maintenance and cleaning for the underperforming resources. This will enable you to have equipment that is able to meet the targeted production outputs and ensure that the resources are being used efficiently. In addition, the capacity planning aspect of production planning and scheduling will ensure that all resources are being utilized to their full potential.
• Plant Morale Improvement – Stress can be a tremendous hindrance in manufacturing as it increases the likelihood of errors and defects on the shop floor. A production planning and control system that ensures a systematic workflow through the production flow allows planners to better quote lead times. The overall outcome is that activities are properly coordinated and there is no need to rush orders to meet deadlines. The shop floor personnel are then able to know what needs to be done and are able to meet their production goals without the stress of rushing orders due to a disorganized plan.
• Idle Time Reduction – In manufacturing production, idle time refers to the paid time where an employee or machine is unproductive. Idle time is usually due to workers waiting for materials to begin production or on various machine repairs. These periods of low productivity can be costly for manufacturers. However, production planning and control is a viable solution to minimize downtime as it can effectively coordinate the purchasing and release of materials to ensure that every production step can start when scheduled.
• Quality Improvement – High-quality products must be able to meet industry standards at various checkpoints in the manufacturing process. As production planning and control overlook all aspects of production from materials planning to resource optimization, this ensures that the quality of the finished goods is maintained. Having quality products is critical nowadays to ensure the satisfaction of customers. Your customers will be more likely to choose and endorse your brand if they know that your products are consistently reliable and durable.

The many benefits of production planning and control show that it can increase a business’s revenues by maximizing the utilization of its resources. Overall, if the individual components within the organization are not working well together, there will only be a limited amount of success for the entire manufacturing operation. A software that is becoming extremely common to handle production planning and control strategies is YGL ERP advanced planning and scheduling (APS) software. This type of software provides insight into the current operations and allows the planning and scheduling to occur concurrently to increase the efficiency of the operations. 

The importance of production planning and control are summarized below:

• Better Service to Customers: Production planning and control, through proper scheduling and expediting of work, helps in providing better services to customers is terms of better quality of goods at reasonable prices as per promised delivery dates. Delivery in time and proper quality, both help in winning the confidence of customers, improving relations with customers and promoting profitable repeat orders.
• Fewer Rush Orders : In an organization, where there is effective system of production planning and control, production, operations move smoothly as per original planning and matching with the promised delivery dates. Consequently, there will be fewer rush orders in the plant and less overtime than, in the same industry, without adequate production planning and control.
• Better Control of Inventory : A sound system of production planning and control helps in maintaining inventory at proper levels and, thereby, minimizing investment in inventory. It requires lower inventory of work-in-progress and less finished stock to give efficient service to customers.   It also helps in exercising better control over raw-material inventory, which contributes to more effective purchasing.
• More Effective Use of Equipment : An efficient system of production planning and control makes for the most effective use of equipment. It provides information to the management on regular basis pertaining to the present position of all orders in process, equipment and personnel requirements for next few weeks.   The workers can be communicated well in advance if any retrenchment, lay-offs, transfer, etc. is likely to come about.   Also, unnecessary purchases of equipment and materials can be avoided.   Thus, it is possible to ensure proper utilization of equipment and other resources.
• Reduced Idle Time : Production planning and control helps in reducing idle time i.e. loss   of time by workers waiting for materials and other facilities; because ensures that materials and other facilities are available to the workers in time as per the production schedule. Consequently, less man-hours are lost, which has a positive impact on the cost of   production.
• Improved Plant Morale : An effective system of production planning and control co-ordinates the activities of all the departments involved in the production activity.   It ensures even flow of work and avoids rush orders. It maintains healthy working conditions in the plant thus, there is improve plant morale as a by-product.
• Good public image: A proper system of production planning and control is helpful in keeping systematized operations in an organization. Such an organization is in a position to meet its orders in time to the satisfaction of its customers. Customers   satisfaction leads to increased sales, increased profits, industrial harmony and ultimately good public image of the enterprise .
• Lower capital requirements: Under a sound system of production planning and control, everything relating to production is planned well in advance of operations. Where, when and what is required in the form of input is known before the actual production process starts. Inputs are made available as per schedule which ensures even flow of production without any bottlenecks. Facilities are used more effectively and inventory levels are kept as per schedule neither more nor less. Thus, production planning and control helps, in minimizing   capital investment in equipment and inventories.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software have become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations as customer demand for increased product assortment, fast delivery, and downward cost pressures become prevalent. These systems help planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans. APS Systems can be quickly integrated with an ERP/MRP software to fill the gaps where these systems lack planning and scheduling flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency.

With YGL ERP APS you can:

• Create optimized schedules that balance production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximize throughput on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provide company-wide visibility to resource capacity
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

The implementation of an Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency by taking advantage of the operational data you already possess in your ERP system. APS is a step in the right direction of efficiency and lean manufacturing production enhancement.

• YGL NERVO software is the central nervous system of an enterprise, interconnecting supply chain, commerce, inventory, warehousing, fulfillment, analytics and finance.

• Initially focused on manufacturing, YGL NERVO has added additional functions to address nearly every aspect of business include Smart Warehouse, RPA and integration to industrial machine.
• YGL NERVO is an essential tool for Enterprise to become more efficient, flexible and innovative to combat the steady encroachment of e-commerce and a volatile consumer landscape characterized by a dramatic increase in the number of available distribution channels and rapidly changing consumer preferences.
• YGL NERVO is experiencing renewed activity, as the nervous system software providers and enterprises move IT functions to the cloud, which offers lower cost, the ability to innovate, to develop new functions and launch new offerings rapidly.

YGL NERVO can expertly deploy, monitor and troubleshoot a new ERP system that centralises operations at your enterprise.

We Can Help to implement a Central Nervous System Transforms in the Manufacturing Industry System Integration under Industry 4.0

We look forward to hearing from you. Contact us today so that we can help you with our YGL NERVO which is strategy Industry 4.0 ready implementation needs heading towards Industry 4.0 in smart warehouse and smart manufacturing.

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