Manufacturing & production
Production planning and scheduling for Philippine manufacturers
Turn demand into a feasible production plan: master scheduling, capacity checks, material availability, sequencing, frozen windows and schedule adherence.
Production planning decides what to make and how much over the coming weeks. Scheduling decides when and on which line or machine each job runs. Together they translate customer orders and forecasts into work the plant can actually do, with the materials and capacity available. Weak planning shows up as rush orders, idle lines, overtime and missed deliveries.
From demand to schedule
- Demand: customer orders, forecasts and target stock levels (demand planning).
- Master production schedule (MPS): quantities of each finished product by week.
- Capacity check: do lines, machines and people have the hours?
- Material check: are raw materials and packaging available or on order? (raw materials control)
- Job orders: released with quantities, due dates and bills of materials.
- Detailed schedule: sequence of jobs per line or machine, per shift.
- Execution and feedback: actual output recorded; schedule adjusted.
Capacity planning basics
Available capacity = working hours × number of machines or lines × efficiency factor
Required capacity = planned quantity × standard time per unit
If required exceeds available, options include overtime, extra shifts, outsourcing, moving jobs to another line or changing due dates with the customer. Make the trade-off explicit rather than discovering it on the floor.
Example: a packaging line runs 2 shifts × 8 hours × 6 days = 96 hours per week at 85% efficiency, giving about 81.6 effective hours. Planned jobs need 90 hours at standard. The plan is 8.4 hours over capacity, so something must move.
Sequencing jobs
Good sequences reduce changeovers and late orders:
- Group similar products to reduce setup and cleaning time (for example, light to dark colors, allergen-free before allergen-containing)
- Prioritize by due date and customer importance
- Respect constraints: molds, tooling, skilled operators and quality release times
- Leave buffers for the bottleneck resource
Frozen and flexible windows
Constant changes destroy productivity. Many plants use:
- A frozen window (for example, the next 3 to 5 days) where changes need management approval
- A slushy window where changes are allowed with material and capacity checks
- An open window for planning further out
Measuring planning performance
| KPI | Formula |
|---|---|
| Schedule adherence | Jobs completed as scheduled ÷ jobs scheduled |
| On-time job completion | Jobs completed by due date ÷ jobs due |
| Capacity utilization | Actual production hours ÷ available hours |
| Changeover time | Average time between last good unit and first good unit |
| Material shortage stoppages | Hours lost due to missing materials |
Common planning problems
- Plans built on outdated stock and open purchase orders
- No standard times, so capacity checks are guesses
- Sales promising dates without checking capacity
- Planners as firefighters, re-planning every hour
- Floor output recorded late, so plans never reflect reality
Planning in a connected system
Planning works best when demand, inventory, purchasing and floor recording share one system. Planners then see real stock, open POs and actual progress, and can release jobs with confidence. See work-in-process tracking and manufacturing ERP.
Where Cirquolus fits
Cirquolus Production management supports production planning and job orders, floor processing and productivity, performance and cost monitoring. It connects to purchasing for materials and warehousing for stock and production deliveries.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between production planning and scheduling?
Planning decides what and how much to produce over a period. Scheduling decides the timing and sequence on specific lines or machines.
What is a master production schedule?
A plan of finished product quantities by period, used to drive materials and capacity planning.
How do you calculate production capacity?
Multiply working hours by the number of machines or lines and an efficiency factor, then compare with required hours based on standard times.
What is a frozen schedule window?
A short period in which the schedule is fixed and changes require approval, to protect productivity.
Bring this workflow to a Cirquolus demo.
Show us your current process, companies and branches. We will map it to the modules you need and propose a realistic rollout.