Factors to Consider During Production Planning

Production managers are responsible for planning out a project before starting it. The production planning is a demanding task, as the manager must consider many aspects and assess any risks associated with the project. The manager must consider factors that contribute to the project, such as employees, funding and overall time frame allotted by the company.

One of the factors the production manager must consider during the planning process is the role and availability of employees for the project. Depending on the size of the project, employees may play a significant role in completing the job in question. The company doing the production may have employees available for some tasks, but the production manager is responsible for identifying jobs that need to be outsourced. For instance, the company may not have the expertise to finish smaller tasks in the various production stages.

Another factor that must be considered in the production planning stages is the overall budget given for the production. This can be an ongoing budget for product or service production or be a single large budget for a production project. When planning the production, the manager must consider the employees, renting the equipment, the price of raw materials and additional supplies and save some funds for emergency situations, such as broken machinery.

The company completing the production project may have a set of resources available to the production manager. He must take these resources into consideration when planning the project, as the resources could save the company money and speed up the production process. These additional resources can include software systems, machines or equipment, additional employees or internal office supplies like paper, printer and ink.

Another factor that must be addressed in the planning process is the overall deadline set by the company executives. At times, the deadline given is a desired deadline, where the manager needs to try to finish the production within the given time frame. However, given unforeseen circumstances like the bad weather or broken machinery, company executives may be flexible with the deadline. Part of the production planning includes creating a schedule with weekly or daily goals to stay on track for the given deadline.