Production Planning

Let's go into a little more detail and take a closer look at the specific tasks of production planning.

The establishment of an efficient value creation process is the top priority. To ensure this, production planning contributes to various process steps from material procurement to process optimization.

Production planning determines the specific need for resources and auxiliary materials for the individual orders. It coordinates the material requirements with materials planning and ensures the availability of the required materials.

Production planning has the task of planning deadlines and capacities in such a way that optimal order processing is possible. It is also responsible for cost planning and recording the actual financial expenditure. It also plans and defines the processing sequence of operations - for example in a PPS system.

After planning comes implementation. Here, one of the main tasks of production planning is to create and make available order documents, technical documentation and work instructions - ideally digitally, for example with a Connected Worker platform.

Of course, production planning must keep an eye on the initiated processes. It monitors and controls the implementation of the planned orders and adjusts the processes as quickly as possible in the event of deviations - for example, if deadlines change or additional material needs to be provided.

With all the tasks that production planning performs, it brings two key benefits to your production:

1. relief: work planners plan processes for an optimal workflow. They make decisions in advance - for example on material and tool selection - and thus ensure that these decisions do not end up with the worker or fitter. In this way, production planning significantly relieves your production.

2. securing the processes: Production planning ensures that production processes run smoothly, thereby making an essential contribution to avoiding downtime and waiting times.

Of course, many other advantages can be mentioned in detail - from uniform instructions for your employees to transparency regarding costs and throughput times.

Work planners are responsible for work planning and work control - also known as production planning and production control or production process planning and production process control.

No matter which pair of terms you come across: It is important to know that planning and control are different areas.

Work planning or production planning is upstream of control and generally comprises one-off planning measures in preparation for production. It is fundamentally concerned with three questions:

• What is to be manufactured? Here, production planning clarifies which product is to be manufactured and which materials, drawings and parts lists are required for this.

• How will it be manufactured? Here it must be clarified which manufacturing techniques and processes are to be used.

• What will be used for production? By answering this question, production planning determines the required machines and tools.

Work planning itself can be further subdivided into workflow planning and work system planning. While workflow planning deals with the definition of specific processes and sequences, work system planning is concerned with defining the working environment - from individual workstations to the entire factory, depending on the product.

After planning comes control. In contrast to work planning, work control usually comprises regularly recurring tasks for order processing. It deals with the questions:

• How much is to be produced? What target quantity is to be achieved?

• When will production take place? Work control plans dates and deadlines to be met and derives from this when certain resources must be made available.

• Where will production take place? Work scheduling defines which machines and/or workstations are to be used for production.

• Who manufactures? Production planning also determines which employees are eligible for production based on their qualifications and authorizations.

By the way: With a digital connected worker platform, you can answer the question of qualifications in favor of all employees. Modern systems allow you to instruct your employees according to their qualifications. This means that production orders can also be processed by unskilled colleagues.

Let's summarize briefly. Production planning

• plans and controls your production processes

• coordinates materials and resources

• provides all the necessary documents

• monitors the processes and intervenes if necessary.

What is the overarching goal behind this? To put it simply, the aim of production planning is to ensure continuous, frictionless production in your company.