Currently there are a large number of organizations, in the business field, that consider it necessary to improve their production management system and only very few of them consider that, at the same time, they improve the elementary factors (Inputs: raw materials, materials, labor, energy and technology), the device factors (planning, organization and control) must be improved, which implies the introduction of advanced production management systems (MRP, JIT, OPT, TOC and others) which will allow to the company, provide a better level of service to customers, have greater inventory control, better control of plant operations, improve the effectiveness of administration, and other advantages related to production costs and quality.
Summary:
Companies are obliged to define strategies that allow them access to today's competitive world, and if these strategies are not accompanied by management tools that guarantee their realization, the efforts will be useless. Advanced systems must be implemented that, supported by computer techniques, allow for evaluating alternatives and making sound decisions.
In the present work we try to approach some concepts on the issues of production control and management, as well as different approaches used by renowned authors in the subject matter.
Among the innumerable existing systems, the one that constitutes our object of study, is the production system and due to its complexity, aspects of how these are designed will be discussed below.
Productive System Design:
The design of the productive system is perhaps one of the aspects of the production subsystem in which greater and more innovations have been experienced. In such a design the main points are:
1. Establishment of the productive capacity of the plant or plants, which is logically related to the size of the plants.
2. The selection of the production process, within which one can choose from an ordering by the process to an ordering by the product - assembly line or chain going through mixed conceptions.
3. Production scheduling and control, in which systems such as JIT, MRP, flexible systems, those such as CAD-CAM or CIM, in which the support of computer systems is basic, is one of the points of greatest progress.
Before continuing to discuss the issue of the production system and its management, it is important to briefly comment on the concept of production as a function.
Production:
Production, is a definition from which different interpretations have been given throughout history, it is usually defined as why goods and / or services are created from entrances in which goods and services are also found.. It is the creation of goods and / or services (finished products) from factors of other goods (production factors), all this motivated by the fact that the products have a higher utility than the factors.
Production is also called the transformation of some inputs (intputs), through a production system made up of a set of material and conceptual elements, a physical production system that governs the material elements and a production management system in charge of direction and control.
The production function is also known, especially in Anglo-Saxon literature, as an operational function; and production management is then called operations management. The management of production or operations is oriented to the most economical use of means (machines, spaces, facilities or resources of any kind) by some employees or operatives, with the aim of transforming materials into products or performing services.
The term production is frequently used with different meanings. In a restricted sense it is applied to the production of the material goods that are required by a society. That is, consumer goods, such as food, clothing, automobiles, and investment goods, such as machines, tools, or electric generators. Therefore, services such as health, education or commerce are excluded in this case.
However, in this article the term production is used in another broader sense: that of one of the necessary functions in any company or organization that carries out an economic-social activity, regardless of whether it is a production or service company..
Indeed: in any company that operates in the market, at least three main functions can be distinguished: the commercial function, the financial function and the production function.
The commercial function is oriented towards acquiring customers for the products or services, therefore, it does not exist when it comes to a non-commercial institution, such as a town hall or a social security hospital.
On the other hand, the production function, whose object is the physical operations that need to be carried out to transform materials into products or to carry out a service, always exist, whether it is a factory, a supermarket or of a town hall.
In our case, we are concerned with the transformation of raw materials into products through physical operations, that is, production management.
Production Management:
Adelso Díaz (1993) states that “production management has become a fundamental weapon for the improvement of competitiveness in which most companies have immersed themselves. It is necessary to reduce the level of stocks, it is necessary to carry out a better planning, it is necessary to achieve, for the company, a quality image… these are phrases that can be heard continuously in management offices ”.
This author explains that the division of labor in the company gives rise to internal organizations or management subsystems such as production, marketing and financial, apart from the fact that there are others such as technology or human resources management, salary policy, personnel training, labor and computer regulations. In addition, it sees the management of production as an economic problem, when considering it as a decision problem, that is, as a process of determining a specific action among a set of alternatives, in such a way that a certain criterion is maximized or satisfied. It analyzes that there are many concepts and problems with which production management is associated by the relationships and interrelationships of the production system and the rest of the functions, such as: project management techniques, management and control, production planning, maintenance management, etc.
On the other hand, Production Management is a set of responsibilities and tasks that must be fulfilled so that the production operations are carried out respecting the quality, term and cost conditions that emerge from the objectives of the company (Boris Avgrafoff).
Production Management Objectives:
- Ensure that the ordered products are delivered in the quantities, date and quality required. Ensure that these products are manufactured within the expected costs and these are minimal. Create a procedure that becomes routine so as to minimize friction and interpersonal and inter-departmental conflicts.
Production Management Functions.
- Planning: To deliver the products in the agreed terms, first you have to calculate what resources and how much is needed, then you have to estimate an execution date, all this is summarized in an expense budget. Control: To know if we are complying with the program and staying within costs, we must monitor the behavior of stocks, suppliers, labor and machines, for which we must establish relevant control rates. Follow-up: In order to carry out the control, information is required, a documentation that is filled with the pertinent information in a timely manner.
Production management has not always been treated with the level of integration with which it is currently studied, such as the "production logistics approach", widely used by world-class organizations as a competitive advantage, but in its historical evolution it has been biased with certain criteria and concepts that, by the time they were used, increased the efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
In this sense, the Production Management systems, their techniques and philosophies have evolved.
For Ochoa and Subillaga (1991) they can be grouped into five different schools:
1. Classical: Techniques that have existed since Taylor and his team (Gilberto, Gantt..) created the "Scientific Direction of Industrial Plants", making contributions such as: study of work, design of jobs, and distribution of these in the plant, the graphics of the task scheduling, etc.
Also included within this "classic style" of production management are all the contributions of mathematics, operations research, quantitative demand forecasting models, stock management models, scheduling algorithms and evaluation of projects, resource optimization and decision support network projects; also economic planning systems (budgets) and management control systems based on the development of cost systems and analytical accounting.
2. Materials Requirements Planning and Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP I and MRP II)
Philosophies and techniques that are linked to the development of computing. Of North American origin, like the “classical” theory of production management, it presents differences with the previous one, of a conceptual order and not only of data processing. The first practical achievements date from the last years of the sixties in the North American industry, arriving in Europe with a new orientation and with new hardware supports in the mid-seventies, where it has been consolidating since then.
3. Just in Time (JIT.)
Philosophy and set of techniques that are integrated into what can be called the "Japanese School" of business management that spread in Europe in the early 1980s, as a result of the success of Japanese industrial companies. Also known as the philosophy of zeros, as it is aimed at eliminating all kinds of waste of resources, including time.
4. Optimized Production Technology (OPT)
It consists of a black box-type computer application (that is, what is inside is not known), which is implemented on an MRP system and is used to program critical resources.
5. Theory of Constraints (TOC)
Theory developed by E. Goldratt, the same creator of the OPT, very popularized by the best seller "The Goal". It aims to develop a comprehensive management system for the company through the recognition and use of critical resources.
Production control levels.
Production control, as with all efficient planning systems, is a progressive function. It begins by formulating a single objective and a general policy. There are three main levels of progressive planning established and generally accepted in production control. They are known by the names of programming, sorting, and launching. The scheduling plans the volumes of production leaving the factory as a whole, the management plans to obtain from the different suppliers and departments, the components necessary to fulfill the program and the launch is responsible for the issuance of work orders to executors.
To design a Production Control system the following steps are recommended.
1. Pay simultaneous attention to the following factors.
- Relationship between the strategic choices of the company, the derived technological strategies and their specific contributions. Global vision of the company, which integrates the design system, the characteristics of the product, the transforming technology and the control methodology. Identify the necessary operational characteristics. to incorporate control technology into the company's current operations.
2. Consider that the production control system depends on the production process and the characteristics of each one of them.
3. The functions of production operational control.
4. Rules that must be followed to design a production control system.
5. The role of Human Resources in the control of production.
6. Establish the following relationships: O = f (F); P = f (F, O); I = f (F, P, O)
Below we will discuss some elements of the mentioned steps.
The Production Control System depends on the production realization process, in this sense the following basic processes are distinguished: continuous, intermittent and special projects, and their fundamental characteristics are described below.
- Continuous:
1. Use a product guideline.
2. Routine standardized final product in manufacturing.
3. A high volume of production manufactured by special equipment.
4. The equipment is physically arranged within the factory according to the manufactured product.
5. The means for material handling are arranged according to the work flow.
6. Low inventory during the process and long production runs.
7. Minimum levels of worker aptitude, only specialist workers are needed.
8. Limited flexibility of the process.
- Flashing:
1. Employ a process guideline.
2. Final product that is not standardized and that requires extensive production controls.
3. Average volume of performance produced by general-purpose equipment.
4. The team is physically arranged within the factory according to its functional similarity (homogeneous groups).
5. The means for material handling become an important part of the production process requiring a considerable amount of transport equipment.
6. High inventory during the process and shorter production runs.
7. Worker skill levels ranging from medium to high.
8. More flexible processes because the equipment is versatile for material handling.
- Special projects:
1. Often uses the fixed position.
2. A unique final product that requires extreme controls in its production.
3. Low production volume often requiring multiple subcontractors.
4. The equipment is usually of a general type to be used with a great variety of types of work and its arrangement is carried out by the function performed.
5. Material handling equipment is usually mobile so it can be used for a wide variety of jobs.
6. High inventories during the process with a single production run.
7. High levels of worker qualification.
8. High flexibility of the process.
Depending on the type of manufacturing process, the designed production control systems must take into account the characteristics to be considered in each of them.
Continuous process or flow.
1. The goal is to maintain constant optimal production performance.
Materials and various parts must circulate throughout production in constant quantity.
2. There is hardly any change in the type of product that is manufactured every day.
3. Pre-planning is one of the most important elements of this system, because part of it is built on the physical layout of the workflow.
- Very accurate measurement of work is required. Engineering knowledge is required to a high degree. Line balancing is an extremely interesting factor and is one of the most important problems in pre-planning. Labor is easier to balance The loading of the machines. The operations that constitute bottlenecks must be eliminated. The dependency between the line and the equipment must be maximized. The assignment of work to people is practically automatic.
4. It is not necessary to plan and schedule individual work. Only the general production quantity plan should be established; then, the arrival of the work units from the previous stage is the origin of the second stage.
5. Continuous production line workers do not need daily instructions. Only at the beginning of manufacturing is it necessary to give instructions for each product that goes to the manufacturing line. After this as the work is very repetitive they do not need further instructions.
6. Daily monitoring is greatly simplified.
- Production is fixed. Production reports consist of one hour, one shift or one day production accounting only.
7. Control of production costs by batch is unnecessary and no attempt is made to do so. The information contained in the pre-planning rules is sufficient to carry out the control.
8. The production quantity can only vary by modifying the hours the production line is working:
- Changing working hours Adding extra shifts Using operations that help eliminate line downtime during breaks In manual operations such as assemblies, production can be changed by increasing or decreasing the number of workers performing assembly.
9. The input of raw materials and the outputs of finished products must equal the quantity of production. Inventory control must ensure that there are no stops due to lack of materials.
10. Line stops for any reason are usually expensive.
Reports on machine shutdowns and maintenance information are essential to control lost time.
11. It is extremely important that purchasing, receiving, and shipping are closely coordinated and scheduled so that smooth production flow is possible.
12. In continuous flow operations, production control consists of directing the quantity of products to be manufactured. In continuous manufacturing, all production control functions are present, but they are not always clearly displayed because they are incorporated into the line at the time it is established.
Intermittent process or flow:
1. Normally each order differs from the previous one in several ways.
- In the quantity, in the specifications and in the quality, in the materials.
2. Pre-planning is usually difficult prior to receiving the order.
- Production of subassemblies and parts for the warehouse in large quantities is very expensive, there may not be a high degree of standardization between customer orders.
3. Each “job” is assigned a number by which it is controlled.
- Production control maintains control of the individual order using the number. Cost control collects and analyzes the information for each order by means of its number.
4. All the basic functions of production control are included in the intermittent systems.
5. A high degree of control is required. A detailed production control system should be used because control problems are very difficult.
6. Intermittent flow is entirely dependent on process and product planning.
Control of special projects:
The special project control system is a particular type of the intermittent control system. Most of the principles and characteristics applicable to this intermittent system are also applicable to the special project control system.
1. For each order, the product planning and process must be carried out.
2. Programming should generally be based on past experiences.
- The main problem is the lack of experience on which to base a good estimate for production and costs. Detailed programs are practically impossible and are usually established in the form of data that is intended to be achieved.
3. In some cases it is practically impossible to carry out part of the planning of the process until after starting the work.
4. The phases of continuity and corrective action of the production control system are of fundamental importance.
- A good communication system is extremely important. Complete and up-to-date information must be kept at all times.
5. Although good production control systems have been achieved for the type of special project operation, very high costs are incurred in the correction.
It should be noted that this is one of the most complex types of operations to control. If the activity related to special projects has a certain volume, a large part of the costs and confusion can be eliminated, implementing effective production control systems.
The Functions of Operational Control of Production.
Programming:
It is defined as the assignment of work to a medium and the specification of the time and order in which it must be carried out.
In other words, it is made up of three sub-functions that are:
- Assignment: It is the assignment of workload to a production medium, this medium can be people, teams or work groups. Sequencing: It is the decision of the order in which the different works must be executed. It is the most complex part of programming, since in practice it is difficult to determine in advance for all the operations to be carried out in a workshop a strictly defined sequence or order of execution. Its objective is to minimize the total production time and for its application algorithms and decision rules have been developed. Timing: It is the definition of the start and end dates of each production order for the different operations.
In order for scheduling to be carried out correctly, it is necessary to have complete information on: the order of operations in order to assign work to the appropriate means in correct succession, the time rules for determining the total time of each operation, the availability of tools and materials, as well as the normal situation of production loading must be known.
Launching:
The launch is defined as the physical freedom of the work authorization for the operation of the production medium, according to a previously established activity plan developed by the programming function. To launch the work authorization the launcher is normally expected to:
1. Authorize the warehouse to enter the material that is needed.
2. Authorize the tools section to supply the required tools as well as inspection devices.
3. Provide the worker with appropriate time standards.
4. Notify the inspection department of the necessary inspections.
5. Authorize the movement of materials from one means of production to another.
It can be seen that the work of the launcher is a very important point to achieve the efficient operation of a production medium; Without close control, there is little assurance that the work will be performed according to the established plan.
Launch is one of the most important functions of production control; therefore it must be carefully planned and established.
Control:
Progress control: it is defined as the transmission of information on the fulfillment of the work of the production means to the planning group and the interpretation of said information to adopt the necessary corrective action.
A well-conceived production control system at its core can be ineffective simply because the progress reporting system is not properly designed. One of the principles of a good production control system is; "The system must provide accurate, adequate information at the right time"; that is, there must be good information on the progress of the work.
- Stock control: includes the control of materials, production in process and finished products. It consists of two main parts: Physical Control and Maintenance of the Corresponding Records.
Rules to be followed when designing a production control system.
1. Provide regular, adequate and accurate information: All the information obtained from the system must have these three qualities. The flow of information or communication is the basis of any production control system, without it there is no system.
2. Be flexible: The system's ability to adjust to variations in workload, and the possibilities it has to modify to accommodate changes in operation or conditions that exist in the activity.
3. To be simple and understandable: A simple system is understood to be one that is understandable to all those related to it.
4. Being economic: Of course, the economy is the basic reason for having a production control system. This is one of the most difficult stages to assess. Many of the benefits obtained from production control are intangible and cannot be assigned a valuation. The economy can be measured accurately only by comparing the cost of operation when there is no formal production control system and the cost when such a system is in operation.
5. To push for pre-planning and corrective action: The system itself must need pre-planning and corrective action and cannot be effective unless these things are done. The system must do its own police work.
6. Allow management by exception: It is a system that informs management only of those things that require its action. The system must assure management that the issues that are not reported to them are in accordance with the plans outlined. The most interesting question here is that management is able to assume that things that are not reported to them are going according to plan and that it is not necessary for them to be continually following the details.
Human Resources in Production Control.
Human resources are an important element to keep in mind when planning and using production controls, both from the point of view of training (knowing) and motivation (wanting).
Sometimes the production control affects some person or groups of people in the Organization, so maximum collaboration is required at all levels, from the highest-level executive to the simplest employee, otherwise it is done its effectiveness impossible.
To the extent that human resources are more identified with the Organization and have possibilities to make decisions (participatory approach), the conception and operation of control will be facilitated and elements of self-control may be incorporated.
In every productive company there must coexist:
- A manufacturing system (F) An organization system (O) A planning and control system (P) An information system (I)
The following relationships must be established:
1. O = f (F)
2. P = f (F, O)
3. I = f (F, P, O)
We hope these notes and recommendations can be useful to you.
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