PPCP: 5 lessons to apply day to day

The Production Planning, Scheduling and Control (PPCP) area focuses on factory operations, based on engineering, Supply Chain and Industry 4.0. PPCP enables strategic intelligence that improves industries' production processes.NEO is a technology consultancy in Engineering. Part of our team is made up of professionals with several engineering specialties. In constant expansion, our team is increasingly diverse and multidisciplinary. That's why our professionals — from engineering and other areas — put it to the test and now share 5 PPCP lessons that can be applied to daily life, far beyond the industrial reality.

Learn 5 PPCP lessons to apply in your daily life:

1 – Know your limits

It seems obvious, but it's always important to remember that every person, area and company has a maximum capacity that prevents them from producing infinitely. As much as we'd love to embrace the world, the availability of resources — whether machinery, raw materials or human capital — is finite. So it's always necessary to respect limits, whether in PPCP or in life.

2 – It's okay to reschedule

Industrial production environments are extremely dynamic, with priority shifts, production delays, machine breakdowns and several factors capable of triggering a cascading effect and demanding the rescheduling of the whole factory. Responding to that reality quickly and with a good plan is what allows PPCP work to be more analytical and decisive. Replanning is, yes, harder than planning. But you must be prepared for the unexpected so that you can react with agility, more control and the best possible results.

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3 – Synchrony

The food and beverage industry has complex dynamics for synchronizing intermediate-material manufacturing steps with finished-goods filling. In the packaging industry, finishing a single part requires several stages. That's why in the industrial sector, synchronization between operations is fundamental. Without a critical eye — and specialized software — you end up generating unnecessary machine stoppages and excessive work in progress.It's the same way in life! In work environments, without synchronized teams and processes there's a significant drop in productivity and, sometimes, an idleness that brings avoidable losses.

4 – First things first

Schedule prioritization is fundamental in the industry. It's PPCP's job. With the help of APS tools, identify the sequencing that will prioritize products with critical inventory levels, reducing or preventing stockouts. That is, producing first what will have the greatest positive impact must be a PPCP premise.The same logic applies to any productive environment. Prioritizing the most important processes generates better outcomes and lowers the potential damage. How many times have we started with the easiest or most pleasant task and, because of that, faced problems delivering the important demand? Prioritization is essential!

5 – Analyze, analyze and analyze

As important as planning and replanning is knowing how to analyze scenarios. In the case of industries, both production planning and scheduling must be based on analysis. It's through them that it's possible to evaluate efficiency, service level and projected inventory for the best decision making.And for you, what other aspects of Production Planning, Scheduling and Control can serve as a lesson for other areas? Tell us in the comments!