What is production management?
Production management brings together all the processes making it possible to plan, organize and control the manufacturing of a good or service. This includes planning raw material requirements, inventory management, production scheduling, coordination of different departments, production supervision and evaluation of results. Production management aims to maximize the quality and profitability of production while respecting deadlines and costs.
Who is responsible for production management?
Production management is usually carried out by a production manager or production manager, who is responsible for planning, organising and coordinating a company’s production activities. He may also be responsible for managing human resources and finances related to production.
How to implement effective production management?
Draw up a list of objectives
Implementing effective production management involves a first step of defining the objectives to be achieved in terms of quantity, quality and costs.
Identify production process
Once these objectives have been defined, the company maps the different production processes then identifies the critical stages having a strong impact on the established objectives.
Evaluate the current performances
The next step is to measure the current performance of key processes using key indicators such as yield, quality and costs.
Develop action plans
In order to continually improve the company’s performance, it is necessary to identify opportunities for improvement and then transcribe them into action plans to achieve them in the most efficient way possible.
Track and measure performance
Implementing monitoring and measurement tools to track the performance of key business processes such as production management dashboards is a central step in establishing effective production management.
Monitor and evaluate results
To ensure that objectives are achieved, it is necessary to monitor the performance of key processes and evaluate the results of different action plans.
What are the benefits of effective production management?
Effective production management can bring multiple benefits to a company such as:
- An increase in efficiency and productivity, thus leading to a reduction in production costs,
- Rigorous planning and optimized use of resources, thereby reducing waste and production delays,
- An improvement in the quality of manufactured products, which can increase customer satisfaction,
- Greater flexibility to respond to varying market demands,
- Optimisation of communication and collaboration between the different sectors of the company.
How long does it take to set up production management?
It is quite difficult to give a precise time to set up production management. Indeed, its implementation depends on many factors such as the size and complexity of the company, the tools and processes adopted by the company as well as its needs. Generally, it takes several months to implement effective production management.
Production management tools
Production planning
Production planning allows production to be planned based on raw material needs, production capacities, delivery times, etc.
Supply chain management
Supply chain management ensures the smooth running of production activities according to the different needs expressed.
Quality management
Quality management monitors and guarantees the quality of all products manufactured by the company.
Maintenance management
Maintenance management plans and monitors the various activities related to the maintenance of production equipment.
Stock management
Inventory management ensures real-time tracking of stocks of raw materials and finished products.
Performance management
Performance management makes it possible to measure and optimise production performance. To do this, it uses indicators such as costs, deadlines, quality, etc.