Production function encompasses the activities of procurement, allocation and utilization of resources. The main objective of production function is to produce the goods and services demanded by the customers in the most efficient and economical way. Therefore efficient management of the production function is of utmost importance in order to achieve this objective. Production management involves the managerial decisions regarding design of the product and design of the production system i.e. determination of production processes and production planning and control.

Once the entrepreneur has taken the decisions regarding the product design and production processes and system, his next task is to take steps for production planning and control, as this function is essentially required for efficient and economical production.

Planned Production is the ability to look ahead, organize and coordinate and having plenty of driving force and capacity to lead and ability to supervise and coordinate work and simulates his associates by means of a programme of human relation and organization of employees.

Production Planning and Control involve generally the organization and planning of manufacturing process. Especially it consists of the planning of routing, scheduling, dispatching inspection, and coordination, control of materials, methods machines, tools and operating times. The ultimate objective is the organization of the supply and movement of materials and labour, machines utilization and related activities, in order to bring about the desired manufacturing results in terms of quality, quantity, time and place.

Production planning without production control is like a bank without a bank manager, planning initiates action while control is an adjusting process, providing corrective measures for planned development. Production control regulates and stimulates the orderly how of materials in the manufacturing process from the beginning to the end.

Production Planning and Control (PPC) is a process that comprises the performance of some critical; functions on either side, viz., planning as well as control.

Production planning may be defined as the technique of foreseeing every step in a long series of separate operations, each step to be taken at the right time and in the right place and each operation to be performed in maximum efficiency. It helps entrepreneur to work out the quantity of material manpower, machine and money requires for producing predetermined level of output in given period of time.

Under this, the operations, their path and sequence are established. To perform these operations the proper class of machines and personnel required are also worked out. The main aim of routing is to determine the best and cheapest sequence of operations and to ensure that this sequence is strictly followed. In small enterprises, this job is usually done by entrepreneur himself in a rather

adhoc manner. Routing procedure involves following different activities.

It means working out of time that should be required to perform each operation and also the time necessary to perform the entire series as routed, making allowances for all factors concerned. It mainly concerns with time element and priorities of a job. The pattern of scheduling differs from one job to another which is explained as below:

Production schedule: The main aim is to schedule that amount of work which can easily be handled by plant and equipment without interference. Its not independent decision as it takes into account following factors.

Master Schedule: Scheduling usually starts with preparation of master schedule which is weekly or monthly break-down of the production requirement for each product for a definite time period, by having this as a running record of total production requirements the entrepreneur is in better position to shift the production from one product to another as per the changed production requirements. This forms a base for all subsequent scheduling acclivities. A master schedule is followed by operator schedule which fixes total time required to do a piece of work with a given machine or which shows the time required to do each detailed operation of a given job with a given machine or process.

Manufacturing schedule: It is prepared on the basis of type of manufacturing process involved. It is very useful where single or few products are manufactured repeatedly at regular intervals. Thus it would show the required quality of each product and sequence in which the same to be operated

Scheduling of Job order manufacturing: Scheduling acquires greater importance in job order manufacturing. This will enable the speedy execution of job at each center point.

As far as small scale industry is concerned scheduling is of utmost importance as it brings out efficiency in the operations and s reduces cost price. The small entrepreneur should maintain four types of schedules to have a close scrutiny of all stages namely an inquiry schedule, a production schedule, a shop schedule and an arrears schedule out of above four, a shop schedule is the most important most suited to the needs of small scale industry as it enables a foreman to see at a glance.

The next step is the execution of the schedule plan as per the route chalked out it includes the assignment of the work to the operators at their machines or work places. So loading determines who will do the work as routing determines where and scheduling determines when it shall be done. Gantt Charts are most commonly used in small industries in order to determine the existing load and also to foresee how fast a job can be done. The usefulness of their technique lies in the fact that they compare what has been done and what ought to have been done.

Most of a small scale enterprise fails due to non-adherence to delivery schedules therefore they can be successful if they have ability to meet delivery order in time which no doubt depends upon production of quality goods in right time. It makes all the more important for entrepreneur to judge ahead of time what should be done, where and when thus to leave nothing to chance once the work has begun.

Production control is the process of planning production in advance of operations, establishing the extract route of each individual item part\ or assembly, setting, starting and finishing for each important item, assembly or the finishing production and releasing the necessary orders as well as initiating the necessary follow-up to have the smooth function of the enterprise. The production control is of complicated nature in small industries. The production planning and control department can function at its best in small scale unit only when the work manager, the purchase manager, the personnel manager and the financial controller assist in planning production activities. The production controller directly reports to the works manager but in small scale unit, all the three functions namely material control, planning and control are often performed by the entrepreneur himself production control starts with dispatching and ends up with corrective actions.

Dispatching involves issue of production orders for starting the operations. Necessary authority and conformation is given for:

• Movement of materials to different workstations.
• Movement of tools and fixtures necessary for each operation.
• Beginning of work on each operation.
• Recording of time and cost involved in each operation.
• Movement of work from one operation to another in accordance with the route sheet.
• Inspecting or supervision of work

Every production programme involves determination of the progress of work, removing bottlenecks in the flow of work and ensuring that the productive operations are taking place in accordance with the plans. It spots delays or deviations from the production plans. It helps to reveal detects in routing and scheduling, misunderstanding of orders and instruction, under loading or overloading of work etc. All problems or deviations are investigated and remedial measure are undertaken to ensure the completion of work by the planned date.

Inspection: This is mainly to ensure the quality of goods. It can be required as effective agency of production control.

Corrective measures: Corrective action may involve any of those activities of adjusting the route, rescheduling of work changing the workloads, repairs and maintenance of machinery or equipment, control over inventories of the cause of deviation is the poor performance of the employees. Certain personnel decisions like training, transfer, demotion etc. may have to be taken. Alternate methods may be suggested to handle peak loads.

This is mainly to ensure the quality of goods. It can be required as effective agency of production control.

Corrective action may involve any of those activities of adjusting the route, rescheduling of work changing the workloads, repairs and maintenance of machinery or equipment, control over inventories of the cause of deviation is the poor performance of the employees. Certain personnel decisions like training, transfer, demotion etc. may have to be taken. Alternate methods may be suggested to handle peak loads.

The study is carried out at Eicher Tractors, Mandideep.  Productions officers are likewise selected who serve as the respondents of the study. The study extensively explores both the primary and secondary sources of information.

Pertinent information is gathered from the respondents using a structured questionnaire. The structured questionnaire is consists of descriptive questions to get the description of various aspects of Production Planning and Control. The initial questions are to cover the variables characterizing the various production planning and control practises such as demand forecasting, inventory, capacity utilization, and scheduling techniques while the last segment will purely on Control practises.

Unstructured personal interview is also conducted in order to augment the responses that may not be explicitly cleared in the questionnaire. Like this the data is properly collected, organized, and presented. 

Production plan is crucial to the success of any producing unit; it is an activity which is continues in nature and required to be revised time to time as per the requirements. It can’t be done in isolation by a particular department; rather it is an integrated activity done by Planning and Control Department in collaboration with Material Department, Production Department, and Quality Control Department. The heads of various departments of Eicher Tractors sits together and Plans there monthly, weekly, and daily production.

Production planning starts from the market details provided by Marketing Department. Marketing Department provides there monthly requirements like- number of tractors, specific models, specific color, capacity etc.

PPC/Store receives message of monthly requirements from marketing department. PPC studies the requirements and prepare a Preliminary Production Plan. This plan is sent to the Materials Department.

A copy of preliminary plan is sent to the material department. Material department studies the plan and prepares a report which shows the availability of material, material in transit, plan of receipt of material in chronological form, expected shortage of material, and any other problem related to the material. Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) can be used in more complex systems. MRP determines time-phased requirements (period-by-period) for all purchased and manufactured parts such as raw materials, components, parts, sub-assemblies, etc. . This report is sent to the PPC Department

On the basis of the report sent by material department, the PPC/Store revises the preliminary plan. This revised plan is sent to the marketing department. Marketing department revises the schedule of requirements according to the availability and sequence/schedule of receipt of material.

After the consent of marketing department and material department the monthly Production Plan and weekly master production scheduling is done. A copy of main plan and master production schedule is sent to each department.

In results are not according to the Daily Plans, the plan is required to be revised. Daily Production Plan is revised number of times considering the material shortages, problems with assembly line, etc. if material is post pending i.e. on assembly line its operation can’t be changed, but, changes can be made in the sequence and scheduling of pre pending material i.e. material in queue. Efforts are made to plan a sequence which minimizes the idle time of assembly line, labour, and other equipments.

The PPC department of Eicher Tractors, Mandideep believes in making plans and decisions unanimously, in cooperation with production department, marketing department, material department, and quality control department. So that a feasible plan can be made, executed properly, and optimum results can be achieved. Hence, production planning and control is an integrated activity and can’t be done in isolation by any particular department.

Following are the findings of this project about production planning and control activities of Eicher Tractors:

After doing this project I am in position to conclude that Eicher Tractors, Mandideep has well defined and structured production planning system. PPC defines the sequences and schedules of operations; hence production planning contributes to the efficient use of facilities and equipments.

PPC is done to identify production process which leads to reduced lead time; hence customer waiting time is also reduced.

PPC ensures optimum utilization of production capacity, material, and other equipments; hence it leads to waste reduction and increased profits.

The production planning and control of Eicher Tractors, Mandideep, highly depends on the material availability. In case of shortage of material the overall plan get disturbed. If such problem prevails the optimum results cannot be achieved. To avoid such problem following measures can be taken: