Individual Configuration of Production Control to Suit Requirements

The logistical requirements placed on industrial manufacturing companies are steadily increasing. In order to meet those requirements, a consistent and efficient concept is necessary for production control. Set up properly, production control offers considerable potential with respect to achieving the logistical targets. As experience with the many production control methods already in existence and their compatibility is, however, often inadequate, this article describes a systematic approach to the configuration of production control based on the Lödding model. This model enables production control to be set up individually to suit a company and the requirements. It therefore permits today’s demands regarding logistical performance to be met. Keywords— Production, Planning, Control, Configuration I. PRODUCTION CONTROL AS A LEVER IN A COMPANY’S SUCCESS company’s command of its own logistics is not just a possibility for a manufacturing company to stand out from its competitors. More than that, it is increasingly becoming a necessity in order to survive in a global market [1]. Companies with successful logistics grow faster and are more profitable than their competitors. Besides intelligent networking with suppliers and customers, a company must realize that organizing its own internal production logistics as efficiently as possible, in order to be able to turn it into an intrinsic success factor, is an important task. Production control is an important lever within internal logistics, enabling an efficient relationship between logistical performance, in the form of shorter throughput times and a high date reliability, and the cost of logistics, which are characterized by the variables work in process (WIP) and utilization. The difficulty lies in the partly conflicting nature of the four target variables, known as the “dilemma of operations planning” [2]. For example, under real conditions minimum throughput time and maximum performance cannot be achieved simultaneously in one work system. The causes and effects can be mapped by means of production operating curves according to Nyhuis [3], as the qualitative diagram in Fig. 1 shows. So production should not be expected to achieve Ben Muenzberg is research associate at the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics (IFA), Leibniz University of Hanover, Garbsen, 30823 Germany (corresponding author to provide phone: 0049-511-762-18183; fax: 0049-511762-3814; e-mail: [email protected]). Prof. Peter Nyhuis is director of the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics, Leibniz University of Hanover, Garbsen, 30823 Germany (e-mail: [email protected]). maximum goal attainment in all four areas, but rather a sensible positioning within the lines of conflict drawn up and tailored to the strategic objectives of the company. Mutually supportive targets Competing targets High date reliability Low WIP S ho rt th ro ug hp ut ti m e H ig h ut ili za tio n Throughput time Utilization WIP Date reliability Fig. 1: The “dilemma of operations planning” [3] To do this, it must be possible to configure the various tasks of production control to suit the goals, using suitable methods and taking into account their interactions. The new approach described in this article enables this process, known as configuration, to be carried out systematically and holistically. The intention is to place companies in the position of being able to configure their production control to suit the requirements with respect to typical corporate logistical conditions, taking into account customer requirements, strategic objectives, capabilities and other influences. The steps required for the individual configuration of production control are described below based on a conception for the production control model developed at the IFA according to Lödding [4]. A corresponding practical example is also described. II. THE PRODUCTION CONTROL MODEL The production control should implement the stipulations of production planning despite unavoidable changes with respect to quantities and schedule plus disruptions caused by absent personnel and machine breakdowns in production [5]. The production control model according to Lödding shown in Individual Configuration of Production Control to Suit Requirements Ben Muenzberg, Prof. Peter Nyhuis A World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Mechanical, Aerospace, Industrial, Mechatronic and Manufacturing Engineering Vol:3, No:11, 2009 1374 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 3(11) 2009 scholar.waset.org/1999.8/10242 In te rn at io na l S ci en ce I nd ex , I nd us tr ia l a nd M an uf ac tu ri ng E ng in ee ri ng V ol :3 , N o: 11 , 2 00 9 w as et .o rg /P ub lic at io n/ 10 24 2 Fig. 2 brings together the IFA’s knowledge of the modeling of logistical target variables and the development and application of production control methods [4]. It describes the interactions between the tasks of production control on the one hand and the logistical target variables on the other. In doing so, it follows the logic that every one of the four tasks influences plan and actual figures, which function as command variables in the model. The deviations that occur between each pair of corresponding command variables in real operations have an effect on the control variables. These in turn influence the four logistical target variables date reliability, throughput time, WIP and utilization.