Production Overview

From the process point of view the production planning scenario consists mainly of the production planning itself, i.e. the creation of planned orders resp. purchase requisitions for the demand, the detailed scheduling to create a sequence for the orders which is sufficiently feasible (usually in the shortterm) and the execution of the production order. In many cases it is desired to have at least a rough feasibility check of the production plan in the mid-term as well. Figure 13.1 shows the process chain for a make-to-stock production without any distribution planning, starting with a forecast from Demand Planning. Sometimes there is an organisational separation between production planning – i.e. the determination of the quantities which have to be produced (and externally procured) – and the detailed scheduling, where the sequence of the orders and operations is determined. In other cases – especially if the scheduling tasks are more complicated – both processes are performed by the same organisation. The detailed scheduling is usually only performed for the short term horizon. Traditionally both roles – production planning and scheduling – are limited to the plant level. If a supply chain contains alternative production possibilities the process becomes more complex and usually an integrated distribution and production planning is required – at least for the rough-cut plan, cf. chapters 10 and 14.