The function of a manufacturing enterprise responsible for the efficient planning, scheduling, and coordination of all production activities. The planning phase involves forecasting demand and translating the demand forecast into a production plan that optimizes the company's objective, which is usually to maximize profit while in some way optimizing customer satisfaction. These twin objectives are not always synonymous. During the scheduling phase the production plan is translated into a detailed, usually day-by-day, schedule of products to be made. During the coordination phase actual product output is compared with scheduled product output, and this information is used to adjust production plans and production schedules. See also Optimization.
If the production or manufacturing process is viewed as an input-output process, then the production planning function can be viewed as a control process with feedback (see illustration). The control is in the form of schedules and plans, while the feedback results from the comparison of the production reports with the production schedules. See also Control systems; Inventory control; Production engineering; Production methods.
The production process as an input-output process.
