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Operation planning & control is the process of planning production in advance, setting rate of
each item, fixing starting & finishing dates for each item, authorizing shop activity by
releasing production orders and fixing expediting when required.

Planning is forward thinking while control is mechanism for execution.

In brief Planning is centralised activity (in office) and includes such functions as material
control, tool control, process planning, scheduling. Control is thus a diffused activity (in the
shops) and includes functions such as dispatching, progressing and expediting.

—| ccope of OPC department in organisation:

ccope of the OPC department is depends on following factors:

1)| ctatus of OPC department in company:

a)| If the work is highly repetitive & number of workman is not very large, the work
of planning performed directly by the line staff, there is no formal OPC
department.
b)| And in manufacturing units where plant & machinery is laid out as per sequence
of operations & there is little difference in machine capacity for different products
OPC may be sub-division of the manufacturing department.
c)| In firm where product variety is large and plant or machinery is laid out as per
function in different department not relate to each other OPC should be set up as
independent department.

2)| Degree of centralisation: implies extent to which planning activities performed by

OPC. Two system there
a)| Centralised planning: where the function of production planning is controlled by
staff specialist.
b)| Decentralised planning: where the planning is carried out by line executives-
foreman-who direct normal work in their respective department.

3)| The internal structure:

It implies the function to be assigned to OPC which depend on nature of the industry,
size of the company and the management policies. In general company assigned
following functions to OPC department:
a)| Order preparation
b)| Material control
c)| Tools control
d)| Process planning
e)| ccheduling
f)| Dispatching
g)| Progressing
h)| Expediting
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a)| Materials are purchased on receipt of order unlike in batch or continuous process
where material requirement planned well in advanced.
b)| Tool control function is simple. ctandard tools are stoked while special tools are
either made on shop floor by the operators or purchased on request from
supervisor.
c)| Process planning activity is almost absent. Drawing and specifications are directly
given to supervisor who is expected to decide work methods, select optimum
process, fix up machine tools to be used and estimate time required to complete
operation.
d)| The scheduling activity is more or less decentralised. It is prepared to show the
start and completion date of each major component of the product. Day to day
activity scheduling is left to individual shop supervisor.
Day today information on the progress of the work on shop floor is difficult due
to slow-moving activities. cupervisors attending Production meeting to improve
control, thus expected to account for job progress.

2)|
 



  
 are more complex than Job & Flow process
a)| Material control and tool control functions are important. ccientific stock control
system need to be used to ensure routine replacement.
b)| Detailed operational layouts and route sheets are prepared for each part of the
product.
c)| Loading and scheduling need to be more detailed and more sophisticated since
every machine requires to be individually scheduled.
d)| Progressing function is very important to collect information on progress of the
work. A separate progress card need to be maintained to record progress of each
component.
e)| Expediting is generally necessary since job many a times due to imbalances in
work contents tend to lag behind.

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a)| Material control required low, as WIP inventory is low since manufacturing line is
balanced.
b)| Tool control relatively low.
c)| ccheduling activity is relatively simple & routine.

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a)| Material control function is of crucial importance. Material need to be planned
well in advanced. ccientific inventory control system is must for such plants.
b)| Tool control function is almost absent because of the nature of the plant.
c)| Process planning activity is absolutely not required since it is the plant which
decides the route.
d)| ccheduling activity is very simple and is merely restricted to final targets.
e)| Progressing and expediting function are extremely simplified are merely limited to
recording of the final production at the end of the shift.