i. Planning: For any organization especially manufacturing the first step is planning, the materials, manpower,
manufacturing techniques, resources and other initial needs to complete the production. In this regard, care
should be taken by the planning department in strengthening the production from the very beginning of
procurement especially raw materials and other essential commodities that are needed for a smooth production
and this will be achieved to strengthen the material supply chain and better communication.
ii. Routing: Routing is nothing but a determined path by the production department starting from a raw
material till it is converted into a finished product meaning, the path that will raw materials takes place in
different sections convert into a marketable product uninterrupted Sequence of operations. In routing, the
Production Manager will also identify not only the path but also the men, machine that are required and are to
be used at every step in the production. The importance of routing is identification of proper machines,
identification of raw materials, identification of skilled, semi skilled and unskilled work force to handle this
process. Hence, the Production, Planning and Control routing will take place an important role. Any
discrepancy in the designated path/route will not only cause delay/obstruction in production but also financial
loss, manpower loss, idle machine time in toto will put the organization into a loss making one.
iii. Scheduling: Next to routing the other important operation is scheduling; meaning in scheduling element of
time takes important place and it specifies every operation either by the machine or by the operator should take
the required time and any deviation from the set standard time will have bearing not only on the production
line but also the planning will get disturbed and the organization instead of running in a smooth way will have
difficulties in completing the schedule. After routing, the scheduling is done by dividing the operations in a
production line and fixing the time schedules that each operation has to be completed failing which the product
moves to the next schedule leaving behind incomplete operation thereby the product is rejected at the
inspection level.
iv. Loading: Loading as defined in the manufacturing process in general is the process of determine the idle
time/idle work load to employees and machines that are used in accordance with their capacity. In loading, the
production manager can identify the potential manpower shortage or challenges in any of the work stations by
properly loading without disturbing the sequence of operation as per the schedule and routing one can
implement proactive measures that can prevent the bottlenecks that may arise and can be converted into
positive productivity.
v. Dispatch: It is not enough a proper planning, routing and scheduling in any production organization but
ultimately product has to go to the market to get the returns on the investment made. Dispatching is nothing
but the implementation of all the planned operations mentioned above into an actual production and this as a
whole can be classified into two namely Centralized where orders are provided by a specific authority or
decentralized where instructions are issued by all involved in the organization.
vi. Expediting: In any organization especially in manufacturing units, the other important element is follow up
– meaning to evaluate the effectiveness of the whole production process and to identify the
bottlenecks/hindrances that are causing delay in production thereby unable to meet the deadlines. The purpose
of introduction of expediting is to compare the initial planning process or initial plans against the actural
results of production process. In expediting will result in identifying the inefficiencies in the process, the idle
times of a machine of an operator and also to analyze whether any of the operations men or machine can be
improved or eliminated or extended or introduced to get more production thereby the organization will have
more profits and is in a better position in that category.
vii. Inspection: As mentioned above inspection is also an operation of expediting and it is a follow up
operation. Any organization inspection will take a special place that wll result in the production planning
controlling process by identifying whether the operations are going as determined previously and maintaining
the quality of the product. In inspection since it is not possible to inspect every product that is being
manufactured, a regular random inspection will help to identify the situations that are causing quality of the
product or service promised and supplied by the organization. This process of inspection will reduce and some
times eliminate the product that cannot be classified as one that will beat the set determined specifications.