Production control is the activity of monitoring and controlling any particular

production or operation. Production control is often run from a specific control room
or operations room.

Aggregate planning is the process of developing, analyzing, and maintaining a preliminary,

approximate schedule of the overall operations of an organization.
AGGREGATE PLANNING STRATEGIES

 LEVEL STRATEGY.
A level strategy seeks to produce an aggregate plan that maintains a steady production rate
and/or a steady employment level. A level strategy allows a firm to maintain a constant level of
output and still meet demand.

 CHASE STRATEGY.
A chase strategy implies matching demand and capacity period by period. The major advantage
of a chase strategy is that it allows inventory to be held to the lowest level possible, and for some
firms this is a considerable savings.

Inventory management is the supervision of non-capitalized assets (inventory) and stock

items. A component of supply chain management, inventory management supervises the flow of
goods from manufacturers to warehouses and from these facilities to point of sale. A key
function of inventory management is to keep a detailed record of each new or returned product as
it enters or leaves a warehouse or point of sale.

Inventory management techniques:

Stock review, which is the simplest inventory management methodology and is generally more
appealing to smaller businesses. Stock review involves a regular analysis of stock on hand versus
projected future needs.

Just-in-time (JIT) in which products arrive as they are ordered by customers, and which is
based on analyzing customer behavior. The advantage of JIT is that customer demand can be met
without needing to keep quantities of products on hand.

ABC analysis methodology, which classifies inventory into three categories that represent the
inventory values and cost significance of the goods. Category A represents high-value and low-
quantity goods, category B represents moderate-value and moderate-quantity goods, and
category C represents low-value and high-quantity goods.

Just-in-Time System

Just-in-Time or JIT is an inventory management system wherein the material, or the products
are produced and acquired just a few hours before they are put to use. The Just-in-time system is
adopted by the firms, to reduce the unnecessary burden of inventory management, in case the
demand is less than the inventory raised.

The objective of Just-in-time is to increase the inventory turnover and reduce the holding cost
and any other costs associated with it. This concept is again popularized by the Japanese firms,
who place an order for the material, the same day the product is to be produced.

Thus, the JIT system eliminates the necessity to carry large inventories and incur huge carrying
cost and other related costs to the manufacturer. To avail the benefits of this method, there
should be a proper synchronization between the delivery of material and the manufacturing
cycle. The JIT requires a proper understanding between the manufacturer and the supplier in
terms of the delivery and the quality of the material. In the case of any misunderstanding, the
whole production process may come to a halt.