According to the framework for manufacturing planning and control, MPS system operates in three distinct stages. At the first stage, the overall directions for the planning process are defined; second, detailed material and capacity planning activities can be accomplished’ finally, the MPC execution system is designed and implemented (p.7-8). This sequence appears logical and effective and acts in the best interest of the manufacturing company.
To start with, the whole activity of an organisation should be carried out according to the organisational strategic goals. Ideally, these goals have to be reflected in all organisational activities and allow the organisation to realize its strategic direction. Otherwise, if these goals are overlooked, the organisation will hardly ever achieve them. All activities are divided into the stages of planning, realization and control. Setting directions before material and capacity planning that breaks down the plans into smaller details allows the manufacturing company to prepare the guidelines for further evaluation of the overall strategy and thus helps to realize effective control.
Thus, the company can define what product is its priority and should be manufactured with the greatest possible quality. For instance, the company may want to conquer a new foreign market with Product A and devote the maximum effort to the manufacturing of all products. This objective will be incorporated in the corporate strategic plan. Quite logically, it will be reflected in the manufacturing plans that have to ensure that the company is able to meet its objectives with the new product, at the same time guaranteeing that the production of the old assortment remains at a satisfactory level.
During the material and capacity planning, this objective is upheld. In computing labor or machine center capacity, for instance, the organisation may want to use whatever spare resources are available for Product A and not others. At the same time, detailed material plans may allocate the production of components for Product A to the most reliable suppliers available so that the manufacturing process occurs without a glitch.
In the execution and controlling stage, the company sees if the strategic objectives have been met. Thus, Product A can be tested for quality, seeing whether the company has been able to deliver the best possible quality in this product. During the execution stage, firms producing a large variety of products and grouping all orders into the same single work center often use a shop floor system that “establishes priorities for all shop orders at each work center so the orders can be properly scheduled” (p.8). In the given example, the shop orders for Product A can be given a priority so that the company can guarantee the smoothest accomplishment of this order that will not be assembled in a last-ditch effort.
Thus, the sequence that goes from overall direction setting to material and capacity planning and then to execution and control seems to be effective and well-grounded. This system allows the organization to adjust its manufacturing process to meet its most important goals.