PRODUCTION CONTROL DEFINED 

“Control is a general management function which can be described as the constraining of events to follow plans. It involves setting standard or plans, monitoring performance and company results against plan of standards and correctly deviations from plans or standards when necessary.

Production control can therefore be described as a function of management which plans, direct and controls the material supply and processing activity of an enterprise. As Mayers puts it in his book, Production Management, that production control involves the development and implementation of a plan, which is capable of yielding the desired results. In his book Principle of Production Control as a function of management which plans directs and controls the material supply and processing of activities of any enterprise so that the specified methods to meet an approved sales programme can be achieved. Note that the above mentioned definition restates the act that planning and control functions are inseparable. The definition does not only imply that production control functions is only concerned with production method or processes but also with the material, labour and capital employed in the production process. The aim is to ensure timely deliver of products to the customers in a state that is capable of satisfying their needs on one hand and ensuring the economic use of resource: labour, materials and capital on the other hand.

OBJECTIVE OF PRODUCTION CONTROL

The following may be considered simultaneously as the major objectives of production control:

1. To ensure timely delivery of output
2. To meet the targeted output
3. To minimize waste
4. To improve quality through reduction in lower-time reduction in ship floor labour etc.
5. To improve cash flow by reducing work-in-process, raw materials, stock and finished goods stock
6. To minimize industrial relations problems

The achievement of one of these could be at the expense of others. For example, the majority of others could be produced on time but this could lead to minimal order batching, which in turn will increase production cost.

More finished goods stock could help batching but cash flow will deteriorate.

It is therefore important the production and other be able to calculate the advantages of the objective that must be aware of the need to consider ‘trade-offs’ and have the information with which to do it.

The objectives of a production control system will help to determine: (Imaga E.U.C. Theory and Practice of Production Management).

• The type of system required. For example, if organization is dominated by need to provide flexibility and a speedy response to customer demands, then production control system must have “flexibility” as an overriding design consideration.

• The data needed. Judging by the relative merit of undertaking, one opposed to other course of action and deciding upon other sequencing rules on which production scheduling is based, required appropriate data.

• How the system is operated. For example, a manual system will have a limited capacity to handle large quantities of information. It ,ay be restricted also to providing sufficient flexibility.