Planning & Control of Operations

Definition:
Planning and control is concerned with the understanding between what the market requires and
what the operations resources can deliver. Planning and control activities provide the systems, procedures
and decisions which bring different aspects of supply and demand together.
Planning is a formation of what is intended to happen at some time in the future.
But a plan does not guarantee that an event will actually happen.
Control is the process of coping with changes. It may mean that plans need to be
redrawn. It may also mean that an intervention will need to be made in the
operation to bring it back on track.
Need:
The purpose is always the same to make a connection between supply and
demand that will ensure that the operations processes run effectively and
efficiently and produce products and services as required by customers.
Planning &control helps us determine what products are to be produced and
the quantities to be produced in defined time periods.
It also helps us to figure out which methods to be used while performing all
the operations related activities.
Identifying and assigning tasks for groups such as divisions of company,
department of a division, work centers of a department.
Scheduling the sequence, priorities and time periods for each task for each
group.
Arranging to provide the resources in time for execution of the tasks.
Setting targets and standards of performance for each task in terms of
time/cost/quality.
Authorizing the execution of work.
Constantly monitoring the progress of execution of the tasks in each group
against the specified targets/standards of performance.
analyzing the variances between actual achievement and the set targets
Evolving and taking corrective action in case of shortfalls in achievements
when compared with the set targets.
Functions:
Functions of Planning & Control of Operations include Routing, Scheduling, Shop
Loading and Dispatch, follow up.

Routing: Answers the question In What Order?

When work arrives at any part of an operation decisions must be taken on the order
in which the work will be tackled. This activity is termed Routing.
In Simple terms, Routing is the initial step of planning where a track-route of
operations to be performed is worked out. It simply gives a road map of actions to
be carried out while initiating a product or a process.
Routing of a particular process or product depends upon the following factors that
have an influence while planning:
Customer Priority: The priority of an operation sometimes has to be finalized
by taking into consideration the importance of a particular customer or even
the urgency of the product or process in case of major customers.

Physical Constraints: The physical nature of the materials being processed

may determine the priority of work. For example, in case of perishable
materials the routing would be different to those of Non-perishable materials.

Due Date: Prioritizing by due date means that work is sequenced according to when
it is due for delivery, irrespective of the size of each job or the importance of each
customer.

LIFO: The Last In First Out; FIFO: First In First Out; Sometimes the Routing is
done on the basis of LIFO or FIFO approaches suitable for that process or
product.

LOT: Longest Operating Time; SOT: Shortest Operating Time; It simply means
that the Process or product with Longest or Shortest processing time will be
prioritized sequentialy.

Scheduling: Answers the question When to do?

Scheduling is a step followed by the Routing wherein the Routed Process or

product is restricted in a frame of Time. In other words, scheduling simply means to
allot time period for each and every step or process involved in the whole operation.
Scheduling involves drafting a detailed timeline schedule for time required for
each and every job considering the date of dispatch as the deadline. It involves
usage of terms like Volumes and Due date in regular customer environment. The
importance of Scheduling is to have a complete Idea of what steps would require
what amount of time and in case of any obstacles where to cut down in the time
period allotted. Gantt Chart is a perfect example of a tool used for Scheduling of
activities.
The scheduling activity is one of the most complex tasks in operations
management. Firstly, schedulers must deal with several different types of
resource simultaneously.

Machines will have different capabilities and capacities; staff will have
different skills. More importantly, the number of possible schedules increases
rapidly as the number of activities and processes increases.
Forward scheduling involves starting work as soon as it arrives. Backward
scheduling involves starting jobs at the last possible moment to prevent them
from being late.
Shop Loading & Dispatch: Answers the question How much to do?
Shop Loading is the amount of work that is allocated to a part of an operation.
Dispatching is concerned with the starting the processes. It gives necessary authority so as to start a
particular work, which has been already been planned under Routing and Scheduling. Therefore,
dispatching is Release of orders and instruction for the starting of production for any item in acceptance
with the Route sheet and Schedule Charts.
For example, a machine on the shop floor of a manufacturing business is
available, in theory, 168 hours a week. However, this does not necessarily mean
that 168 hours of work can be loaded onto that machine. For some periods the
machine cannot be worked; for example, it may not be available on holidays and
weekends. Therefore, the load put onto the machine must take this into account. Of
the time that the machine is available for work, other losses further reduce the
available time.
Sometimes the machine may be waiting for parts to arrive or be idling for
some other reason. Loading will need to take into account rest breaks, idle time,
changing from one task to another, and boredom reducing actual time available. Of
course, many of these losses should be small or non-existent in a well-managed
operation. However, the Valuable operating time available for productive
working, even in the best operations, can be significantly below the maximum time
available.
Follow Up (Monitoring): Answers the question Are activities going
according to Plan ?
This step is one of the most crucial steps in the Planning & Controlling
process. The whole set of activities involved in Routing, Scheduling & Loading &
Dispatch is being monitored in this step. While monitoring, the loop holes in the
system are recognized and analyzed and are tried to be rectified by using certain
simple tools.

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The result from the first time is compared with the result from second time
and analyzed in order to get the difference and see if any improvements are there
or not. It acts as a feedback for the whole system.
Routing - Process layout indicating flow chart of material from machine to
machine.

Process layout is recommended for batch production. All machines

performing similar type of operations are grouped at one location in the process
layout e.g., all lathes, milling machines, etc. are grouped in the shop will be
clustered in like groups.
Thus, in process layout the arrangement of facilities are grouped together
according to their
functions. A typical process layout is shown in figure. The flow paths of material
through the facilities from one functional area to another vary from product to
product. Usually the paths are long and there will be possibility of backtracking.
Process layout is normally used when the production volume is not sufficient
to justify a product layout. Typically, job shops employ process layouts due to the
variety of products manufactured and their low production volumes.
Advantages
1. In process layout machines are better utilized and fewer machines are required.
2. Flexibility of equipment and personnel is possible in process layout.
3. Lower investment on account of comparatively less number of machines and
lower cost of general purpose machines.
4. Higher utilization of production facilities.
5. A high degree of flexibility with regards to work distribution to machineries and
workers.
6. The diversity of tasks and variety of job makes the job challenging and
interesting.
7. Supervisors will become highly knowledgeable about the functions under their
department.
Limitations
1. Backtracking and long movements may occur in the handling of materials thus,
reducing material handling efficiency.
2. Material handling cannot be mechanized which adds to cost.
3. Process time is prolonged which reduce the inventory turnover and increases the in process inventory.
4. Lowered productivity due to number of set-ups.
5. Throughput (time gap between in and out in the process) time is longer.
6. Space and capital are tied up by work-in-process.