Yuqian #4 - Production Planning and Scheduling 1

Question 1

What is production planning and scheduling? What does it involve?

Answer 1

Production planning and scheduling consists of planning, timing, and coordinating complex manufacturing operations, going from the large-scale (corporate-wide with yearly timespans) to the small-scale (one department)

Question 2

Draw a diagram showing a typical planning scope, including capacity planning, aggregate planning, master schedule, and short-term scheduling, and the time span over which these occur.

Answer 2

Question 3

What is aggregate planning? What are the two main objectives of aggregate planning?

Answer 3

Aggregate planning involves determining the resource capacity needed to meet demand over an intermediate time horizon (3 to 18 months), and looks at product lines/families.

Main objectives are to establish a company-wide gameplan for allocating resources, and to develop an economic strategy for meeting demand.

Question 4

Draw a diagram showing the main inputs and outputs involved with aggregate planning. Hint: There are five of each (not much of a hint lol)

Answer 4

Question 5

Give four reasons why aggregate planning is necessary

Answer 5

1. Loading - fully load facilities, no over- or under-loading
2. Capacity - ensure sufficient capacity to meet demand
3. Changes - plan for systematic changes of production capacity to meet peaks/alleys of expected customer demand
4. Output - get most output for amount of available resources

Question 6

To actually create an aggregate plan, we must specifiy the optimal combination of three different elements. Name them.

Answer 6

1. Production rate
2. Workforce level
3. Inventory on hand

Question 7

What is the simple balance equation used in aggregate planning?

Answer 7

As shown below, the total product available in period, t, is either sold or put into ending inventory.

Question 8

Distinguish between reactive and proactive approaches in aggregate planning

Answer 8

Reactive - allow volume forecasts based on marketing plan to drive production planning.

Proactive - coordinate marketing and production plans to level demand using advertising and price incentives

Question 9

What are the ‘chase’ and ‘level’ strategies used in aggregate planning?

Answer 9

Chase - match production to demand by adjusting workforce level

Level - use stable workforce working at constant production rate

Note that hybrid strategies can be implemented, e.g. stable workforce but variable workrate.

Question 10

What are the 5 steps involved in developing an aggregate plan?

Answer 10

1. Choose strategy: Level, chase, or hybrid
2. Determine aggregate production rate
3. Calculate size of workforce
4. Test plan
5. Evaluate performance

Question 11

What are the two main techniques used in the development of an aggregate plan?

Answer 11

1. Trial-and-error - costing out various production planning scenarios to determine which has the lowest cost
2. Mathematical approaches - linear programming, heuristics, etc

Question 12

Once the aggregate plan is verified, we must disaggregate it into shorter term, more detailed, working documents. What are two of these documents?

Answer 12

1. Master schedule - shows quantity/timing of specific end items for a scheduled horizon
2. Rough-cut capacity planning - approximate balancing of capacity and demand to test feasibility of master schedule