Introduction to Production Management

 Introduction to Production Management

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Production Planning and Control:- Production Planning and Control or PPC is a managerial function that integrates and coordinates the production processes to accomplish predetermined objectives. It establishes schedules to plan the entire production and assure efficiency in processes and resources.

Basically, it determines:

• The requirement of the production facilities.
• Accommodation of the facilities in the available space.
• Production of desired product at the expected cost.

PPC integrates all the activities participating in the manufacturing process. Concurrently, the managers focus on four core elements, i.e. Quality, Quantity, Cost and Time.

Besides, it helps in achieving an uninterrupted materials flow. It ensures the availability of the materials at the Right – Time, Place and Quantity. For this purpose, it establishes Master Production Schedules and Routes.

Thus, it is said to be the Brain and Nervous System of the production system.

PPC primarily focuses on efficient and economical production. Also, it assists each activity involved in converting the raw materials into a finished product.

So, the managers strive to implement the production plan religiously. In addition, the managers also exercise control for its successful implementation.

During the planning phase of PPC, the managers must answer the following questions:

• What to Produce?
• How to Produce?
• Where to Produce?
• When to Produce?
• Who will Produce?
• How much to Produce?

Objectives

The objectives of production planning and control are furnished below:

1. Optimum Resource Utilization: Production planning ensures the best use of the Materials, Men and Machinery.
2. Consistent Production Flow: PPC aims to achieve consistency in the production flow. This is because, it helps in optimization and waste elimination.
3. Quality and Cost: It ensures the production of quality goods at the least cost.
4. Efficient Production: Through PPC, one can bring efficiency at all stages of the production system.
5. Materials Management: It optimizes the use of materials and resources by creating plans and schedules.
6. Fix Bottlenecks: It assists managers in identifying and fixing the bottlenecks in the process.
7. Scheduling: The planning part of PPC facilitates the creation of schedules for uninterrupted production.
8. Reduce Idle and Set-up Time: Routing in PPC helps avoid machine idle time and cuts setup time.

Functions of Production planning and control

Majorly it performs two functions –Planning and Controlling. However, it also serves the following: functions:

• Forecasting: The manufacturers make future projections for creating schedules.
• Scheduling: It provides the schedule or timetable for manufacturing activities. Therefore, meeting delivery commitments and completing production on time.
• Routing: PPC describes the flow of work and the sequence of production activities.
• Make or Buy Decisions: It plays an important role in taking make or buy decisions. Generally, these decisions are taken in the planning phase of PPC.
• Requirements Planning: PPC determines the exact quantity of materials required for production. Also, it assures the availability of materials whenever needed.
• Material Control: Besides availability, it also ensures the best use of resources and eliminates waste.

Unit 3 Cost Estimation

Unit IV

Maintenance Management: Maintenance activities are related with repair, replacement and service of components or some identifiable group of components in a manufacturing plant so that it may continue to operate at a specified ‘availability’ for a specified period.

Thus maintenance management is associated with the direction and organisation of various resources so as to control the availability and performance of the industrial unit to some specified level.

Thus maintenance management may be treated as a restorative function of production management which is entrusted with the task of keeping equipment/machines and plant services ever available in proper operating condition.

The minimization of machine breakdowns and down time has been the main objective of maintenance but the strategies adopted by maintenance management to achieve this aim have undergone great changes in the past.

Maintenance has been considered just to repair the faulty equipment and put them back in order in minimum possible time.

In view of the utilization of mostly general purpose/conventional machines with low production output, the demands on maintenance function were not very high. But with fast developments in the design, development and mechanisms of control such as electronic, NC and CNC in machine tools the manufacturing scenario has changed a lot.

Importance of Maintenance Management: Maintenance management is responsible for the smooth and efficient working of the industrial plant and helps in improving the productivity.

It also helps to keep the machines/equipment in their optimum operating conditions. Thus plant maintenance is an important and inevitable service function of an efficient production system.

It also helps in maintaining and improving the operational efficiency of the plant facilities and hence contributes towards revenue by decreasing the operating cost and improving the quality and quantity of the product being manufactured.

As a service function it is related with the incurrence of certain costs. The important component of such costs are — employment of maintenance staff, other minor administrative expenses, investment in maintenance equipment and inventory of repair components/ parts and maintenance materials.

Absence of plant maintenance may lead to frequent machine breakdown and failure of certain productive centres/services which in turn would result in stoppages of production activities, idle man and machine time, dislocation of the subsequent operations, poor quality of production, failure to meet delivery dates of product supply, industrial accidents endangering the life of workers/ operators and allied costs etc.

However, the importance of plant maintenance varies with the type of plant and its production but it plays a prominent role in production management because plant breakdown creates problems such as:

(i) Loss of production.

(ii) Rescheduling of production.

(iii) Materials wastage (due to sudden stoppage of process damages in process materials).

(iv) Need for overtimes,

(v) Need for work subcontracting.

(vi) For maximum manpower utilization workers may need alternative work due to temporary

      work shortages.

Hence, the absence of planned maintenance service proves costlier. So it should be provided in the light of cost benefit analysis.

 

Objectives of Maintenance Management: The purpose of maintenance management is to optimize the performance of productive facilities of an organization by ensuring that these facilities function regularly and efficiently. This can be achieved by preventing the failures or breakdowns if any, as far as possible and by minimizing the production loss due to failures.

The main objectives of maintenance management are as follows:

(1)   Minimizing the loss of productive time because of equipment failure to maximize the availability of plant, equipment and machinery for productive utilization through planned maintenance.

(2)   To extend the useful life of the plant, machinery and other facilities by minimizing their wear and tear.

(3) Minimizing the loss due to production stoppages.

(4) To ensure operational readiness of all equipment’s needed for emergency purposes at all times

      such as fire-fighting equipment.

(5) Efficient use of maintenance equipment’s and personnel.

(6) To ensure safety of personnel through regular inspection and maintenance of facilities such as

      boilers, compressors and material handling equipment etc.

(7) To maximize efficiency and economy in production through optimum utilization of available

      facilities.

(8) To improve the quality of products and to improve the productivity of the plant.

(9) To minimize the total maintenance cost which may consist of cost of repairs, cost of preventive

      maintenance and inventory costs associated with spare parts/materials required for

       maintenance.

(10) To improve reliability, availability and maintainability.

 

Functions of Maintenance Management: The important functions of maintenance can be summarized as follows:

(1)   To develop maintenance policies, procedures and standards for the plant maintenance   

       system.

(2)   To schedule the maintenance work after due consultation with the concerned production  

 departments.

(3)   To carry out repairs and rectify or overhaul planned equipment/facilities for achieving the

 required level of availability and optimum operational efficiency.

(4)   To ensure scheduled inspection, lubrication oil checking, and adjustment of plant

 machinery and equipment.

(5) To document and maintain record of each maintenance activity (i.e., repairs, replacement,

       overhauls, modifications and lubrication etc.).

(5)   To maintain and carry out repairs of buildings, utilities, material handling equipment’s and

 other service facilities such as electrical installations, sewers, central stores and roadways  

 etc.

(6)   To carry out and facilitate periodic inspections of equipment and facilities to know their

 conditions related to their failure and stoppage of production.

(8)  To prepare inventory list of spare parts and materials required for maintenance.

(9)  To ensure cost effective maintenance.

(10)To forecast the maintenance expenditure and prepare a budget and to ensure that  

       maintenance expenditure is as per planned budget.