No abstract

In the face of increasing international competition, production planning and control is becoming more and more important for manufacturers. Short delivery times, punctual delivery and low inventories are the most important objectives. In contrast, efficient utilization of production equipment is less significant than it was previously.The use of data processing systems has now become very widespread in production planning and control. Numerous studies, however, have shown that existing manufacturing control systems can neither measure permanently nor have a direct influence on those objectives mentioned above. As a result, dispatching lists, although produced at considerable expense, very quickly become obsolete and are therefore no longer reliable. It is for this reason that foremen frequently have informal planning systems in addition to the official system, in order to be able to keep due dates despite numerous delays and changes.In this situation, planners are very interested in new manufacturing control methods which are able to monitor specific manufacturing flow strategies in different planning conditions. One reason for this is the introduction of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), and of logistical concepts. One approach that has been much discussed in this respect is the Japanese Kanban system. It aims to obtain low inventories, short lead times and good schedule performance, and does so with an astonishingly little amount of control.However, practical experience with the Kanban system has shown that it can only be used to a limited degree, since in many companies the production structure does not meet the system's necessary operational requirements.This book presents a new, self-contained, logical approach to manufacturing control. It is mainly directed towards manufacturers with high-variant job-shop production. The book's central subject is a universal model of manufacturing flow that can be applied to conventional manufacturing as well as to automated manufacturing systems. A stepby-step guide for those readers with little mathematical knowledge of the subject is provided, and numerous examples are given to enable the method and its modules to be put into practice.

The Term and Concept 3.10.2 Consequences for Factory Planning 3.10.3

No abstract

Manufacturing companies often complain about the difficulties they face in meeting their customers' logistic requirements. Many blame the perceived inadequacies of their production planning and control (PPC) software for their performance deficits. The paper illustrates why this is only a partial view of the causes of the shortcomings. PPC software is just one of six configuration aspects of the entire PPC system. The authors argue that the configuration of the PPC aspects objectives, processes, objects, functions, responsibilities and tools has to be carried out methodically and consistently in order for the PPC system to function properly. The analysis of examples of so-called "stumbling blocks" of PPC, inadequate configurations of one or several of the aspects, supports this claim. The paper closes with the proposal of a checklist that the authors suggest as a first approach to ensure the consistent configuration of PPC systems