production management
production management
oroperations management
The administration of the conversion process which transforms labour, materials and capital inputs into final products. Production management involves:- planning the design and construction of the production system.
System design decisions include such things as the determination of manufacturing methods – batch production, mass production (see PRODUCTION), acquisition and arrangement of plant (see FACTORY LAYOUT), and the establishment of schedules for the production of each item (see PRODUCTION SCHEDULING);
- controlling the operation, performance and running of the physical facilities and predetermined production plans which constitute the production system. Decisions relating to the operation of the production system involve PRODUCTION CONTROL, PURCHASING, QUALITY CONTROL, STOCK CONTROL, WORK STUDY, and MAINTENANCE of equipment. See also MATERIALS MANAGEMENT, MATERIALS REQUIREMENTS PLANNING, JUST-IN-TIME (JIT) SYSTEM, MANUFACTURING RESOURCE PLANNING, DISTRIBUTION RESOURCE PLANNING, NETWORK ANALYSIS, WORLD CLASS MANUFACTURING, OPTIMIZED PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY, POKE YOKE.