Certification in Production Planning and Control (PPC)

Identify and integrate pre-planning, planning, and control within production planning and control, detailing resources such as man, material, machine, and money, routing, process planning, scheduling, and evaluation.

Understand the levels of production planning and control, from strategic long-range planning by top management to tactical and operational short-range planning, aligning decisions with demand and optimizing resources.

Define the sequence of operations, machines, and resources to convert raw material into the finished product, establishing the shortest route, timing, and efficiency in process planning.

Explore the factors that affect process planning, including production volume, delivery dates, machine accuracy and capability, manpower skills, raw material specifications, process capability, and product quality requirements.

Determine how many machines are required for production targets using standard time and machine capacity. Understand how optimal plant investments and machine utilization boost process planning and return on investment.

Calculate the required number of milling machines to produce 70,000 square pockets, using a six-minute standard time, 2000-hour monthly capacity, and 90% utilization; illustrate process planning and computer aided process planning.

Determine resource capacity to meet demand over the intermediate time horizon through aggregate production planning, focusing on product lines and matching supply with demand using available production alternatives.

Learn how aggregate production planning balances forecasted demand and supply across a yearly horizon, selecting cost-efficient production alternatives such as overtime, hiring, and subcontracting to minimize total costs.

Explore capacity adjustment strategies to meet forecasted demand through regular time, overtime, hiring, subcontracting, or back ordering, considering costs and capacity constraints to minimize annual production costs.

Level production maintains uniform output year-round, using inventory from lean periods to meet variable demand.

Chasing demand aligns production with changing demand over time, producing more when demand rises and less when it falls. Minimize inventory focus while satisfying demand through timely production.

Apply quantitative techniques to minimize total production cost using unit costs, capacity constraints, and demand data. Explore pure and mixed strategies, including linear programming and transportation methods, for production planning.

Level production strategy ensures producing 100,000 per quarter for a 400,000 annual demand, using inventory to balance quarterly gaps and totaling 870,000 in annual costs.

Demonstrates the chase demand approach by aligning workforce and production with quarterly demand, accounting for hiring and firing costs and regular time production to minimize yearly costs.

Explore mixed strategies in production planning, combining level production and chase demand, while managing capacity constraints, inventory limits, layoffs, and vacations during low demand.

Learn how capacity is defined as output rate and key resources per period, and how to plan and optimize utilization to meet forecasted demand.

Execute strategic capacity planning by evaluating facilities, equipment, and labor, using capacity utilization and ROI to align with demand. Decide when to increase or reduce capacity based on market demand.

Calculate capacity utilization rate as capacity used divided by the best operating level, the nominal capacity a process is designed for, illustrated with 100 kg vs 70 kg.

Assess capacity utilization rate to guide decisions, distinguishing theoretical, rated, and effective capacity, and implement changes in processes to improve efficiency and overall capacity utilization.

Explore capacity definitions through concrete input and output measures across sectors like car manufacturing, hospitals, pizza parlor, and retail, comparing labor hours, beds, pizzas served, and revenue per foot.

Define and apply the best operating level to balance capacity and planning, maximizing output while minimizing wear, with an analogy of engines, assembly lines, and driving range for fuel efficiency.

The average unit cost of output varies with production volume, rising at low volumes, optimizing around 500 soap cakes, and increasing at high volumes due to machine wear and maintenance.

Learn how economies of scale reduce cost per unit as output grows, and how diseconomies raise costs at higher volumes, noting the best operating level to minimize average cost.

Explore economies of scale and diseconomies of scale, identify the best operating level at around 300 units, and analyze how capacity planning affects average unit cost.

Explore how economies of scale lower cost per unit as output grows by spreading fixed costs, boosting efficiency, and utilizing bulk discounts, until diseconomies emerge at the best operating level.

Explore how diseconomies of scale arise from distribution, bureaucracy, confusion, and vulnerability, leading to chaotic operations, underutilized capacity, and poor planning due to management complexity.

Compute capacity utilization by dividing capacity used by operating level. With 83 units vs 120, rate is about 0.69 (70%), revealing unused capacity and opportunities to improve efficiency and productivity.

Determine capacity requirements through forecasting sales and calculating machine and labor needs, balancing regular and overtime production, and options for outsourcing to maintain line balance and meet demand.

Determine capacity requirements from demand forecasts, develop and evaluate alternatives (including outsourcing), select and implement the optimum capacity development plan.

Map four-year demand forecasts to machine and labor capacity for small and family size mustard bottles, calculate utilization, and determine required machines and operators for production planning and control.