Aggregate Planning: What It Is and How It Is Done

Every company or production system requires some component or system that consistently improve processes that are carried out there, so these have progressively improved over the years and the trial and error carried out in each of them, being the aggregate planning one of them, which works excellently.

This type of process is used effectively as a method for the determination of a defined unit of production of some component or element at the business level, being a tool for improvement and development in the medium term of weather.

What is aggregate planning?

Specifically it is a method for the purpose of put together a production plan of one year or a shorter period of time, under a business or marketing scheme which seeks to gradually improve said processes.

The way in which the results obtained through the use of this planning scheme are expressed is under the use of units produced, hours worked, units of information, processed data and others, which can be extrapolated to those mostly used by users, that is, monetary benefits or assets.

What is aggregate planning for?

In general, it is a production program that works perfectly in various periods of time, either through long or short term, which allows the company or organization to meet the demand for a product or other types of components and be able to organize in a good way in the face of any adverse situation that interferes with their effectiveness.

This question also depends directly on the type of circumstance or context in which it is going to be applied, and can be implemented in the business environment in the goals, strategies and methodologies, mixing directly with the production plans and improvement of the same. In the case of the service organization, the strategic goals are related to the programs, schedules and workers that influence production directly and indirectly.

What does aggregate planning require?

The aggregate planning It depends directly on a series of parameters established to give a clear line of ideas to the developer of said help system, among which are the following:

• A general unit of measurement must be established for each of the processes to be established, which are able to determine in a clear and concise production volumes, outgoing and incoming items, as well as the effectiveness established by each dependence.
• Generate a forecasting system that accommodates the possible demand for products and an acquisition of the volume necessary to cover the production capacity in a set time interval.
• Determination of possible costs, whether they are operational, acquisition of materials, labor and others.
• The creation of a work methodology that harmoniously mixes all the aforementioned aspects and of greater effectiveness to the processes that are going to be developed there.

How to make an aggregate planning scheme?

There are many ways to generate a scheme of this type, however, one of the simplest ways is by using signaling symbology and variable tables that effectively organize the ideas expressed by the developer. However, the previously established parameters must be taken into account.

It is essential to generate a brainstorming, with a prior discussion of everything that is going to be done, to ultimately acquire the best proposals and solidify each of the themes and proposals in a single plan that gives the best results possible.

Input data

These will give you the proper shape and starting line for manufacturing processes, ranging from the establishment of a formal timeline, with each of the requirements imposed by a user for meet the needs of a customer, however, sometimes only the planning from an expert user or developer.

Aggregate production plan

This second dependency is established as a result of the results of the aggregate planning, that is, each of the input data established previously. In this section, the necessary processes are established, be they production, information or others, to be able to comply with the quotas and achieve the established goals.

Establishment of objectives

Here the aggregates and what is expected of all the processes are established, such as the determination of production rates, need for raw materials, trained labor for each dependency, hiring and necessary movements, being able to measure the effectiveness of the previously established actions.

What must be considered?

The more information and the work of recognition and study of the variables, the more effective the process, so a series of variables must also be taken into account that can be the difference between the appearance of future production errors or not, as well as the immediate response to redirect the work systematic.

• Labor: Costs and trained personnel for the correct performance of each work defined in the processes.
• Hiring: It is everything related to the acquisition of labor, raw material, machinery and implements necessary to start the production processes.
• Legal costs: Everything related to the payment of salaries, demands and formal arrangements established by law.
• Extra payments: The corresponding to the production times established outside the stipulated, which correspond to a greater increase in the production generated, as well as the payment of the workers themselves for the same concept.
• Subcontracting: The hiring of machinery and tools that do not belong to the company itself and that must be required, as well as the workforce trained to carry out certain tasks that other directly linked workers cannot perform.
• Inventory: Proper handling of all materials entering and leaving, to avoid leakage of assets.
• Financing costs: These are the extra expenses or interests or percentages generated by the financing of the processes carried out.
• Missing: Money necessary to replace missing materials, as well as concepts of error that lead to losses.