Production Planning, Quality Control, and Facility Layout Strategies

Posted on Nov 5, 2025 in Business Administration and Innovation Management

Production Planning and Operations Scheduling

Planning and control are essential to achieve Master Production Schedule (MPS) efficiency. They are used to evaluate and control pending orders and set priorities between orders. Operations Scheduling determines which operations to execute first to meet delivery dates.

Types of Production Configuration

  1. Project Configuration: Used for complex projects, requiring unique planning for each project.
  2. Continuous Configuration: Machinery is located as a chain. This configuration is efficient but not flexible.
  3. Lot Configuration: The same facilities are used to manufacture different products.
    • Line Production: Few products are manufactured in homogeneous lots of large quantities. Machinery is placed in line.
    • Job-Shop Configuration: Lots are small in size but of great variety. This configuration is very flexible. Lots move from one work center to another.

Job Allocation and Sequencing Techniques

A. Techniques for Job Allocation

  • Trial and Error (e.g., load charts)
  • Optimization Methods (e.g., the Hungarian Method)
  • Heuristic Solutions (e.g., Indices Method)

B. Sequencing

Sequencing involves determining the order of operations:

  • Sequencing in one machine (e.g., Kaufman Algorithm)
  • Sequencing in several machines (e.g., Johnson or Jackson Algorithms)
  • Trial and Error (e.g., Gantt charts, priority rules)

The Jackson Algorithm is a sequencing criterion that establishes the sequence of orders along the work centers.

Quality Management and Control

Ishikawa’s Seven Basic Quality Tools

  1. Pareto Chart: States that most defects in an article can be attributed to a reduced number of causes (often following the 80/20 rule). It classifies vital causes from trivial causes, helping to identify quality problems rapidly and easily.
  2. Cause and Effect Diagram: Also known as the Ishikawa Diagram or Fishbone Diagram.
  3. Check Sheets: Printed sheets used systematically to collect data.
  4. Histogram: Shows data distribution inside and outside tolerance limits. Distributions can be bell-shaped (ideal), right-skewed (data does not follow normal law), bimodal (data divided into two subsets), or peaked apart (indicating errors).
  5. Scatter Diagram: Used to analyze if a quality characteristic and a factor are related. Also called a Correlation Diagram.
  6. Stratification: A method used to identify the origins of variability within collected data.
  7. Control Chart: Used in Statistical Process Control.

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

  1. Statistical Process Control (SPC): The application of statistical techniques to measure and analyze the variations of a production process. Variations can be random (affecting the entire process) or assignable (due to specific factors like worker tiredness, making identical products impossible to obtain).
  2. Process Capacity: The amplitude of variability of a process when it is under control.
  3. Control Charts:
    • By Variables: Measurements belong to continuous quality characteristics.
    • By Attributes: Characteristics that cannot be measured (e.g., pass/fail).

Acceptance Sampling

Acceptance sampling determines the percentage of products that meet specifications. It involves taking random lots of products, measuring a certain characteristic, and comparing it with a standard. This is performed through a sampling plan. Each sampling plan has an associated characteristic curve that describes its ability to distinguish between correct and defective lots.

Facility Layout Strategies

The primary objective of facility layout is the reduction of congestion and the suppression of unnecessarily occupied areas.

Types of Layout

Layouts According to Industry Sector:

  • Mono-linear
  • Convergent
  • Divergent
  • Convergent-Divergent

Layouts According to Production Organization:

  • Fixed Position Layout: Used when the product is stationary (e.g., building airplanes).
  • Assembly Line Layout: Work units are located one after the other in sequence.
  • Functional Layout: Work centers are grouped by activity (e.g., all drilling machines together).
  • Hybrid Distribution: Combines elements of other layouts (e.g., cellular distribution).