What is MPS? Steps to plan MPS production for businesses

In the manufacturing sector, MPS is considered an extremely important factor in enterprise production planning. In the article below, 1C Vietnam will explain in detail what MPS is and the steps to plan MPS production in an enterprise.

1. What is MPS?

The MPS (or Master Production Schedule) is a detailed plan that describes which products will be produced in what quantities over a specific period of time. An MPS will help link sales demand to production capacity. The purpose of the master production schedule is to create a realistic plan that minimizes over/under stock while maximizing on-time delivery.

2. Benefits of MPS for businesses

MPS is considered an important factor in the production process and material identification. A production schedule (MPS) will help businesses adjust and change stages based on market demand and the actual capacity of the business. In addition, MPS also provides many utilities in the process of protecting and dealing with unexpected incidents, helping to optimize the human resource allocation process. Some specific benefits of MPS include:

• Build, optimize and track plans to meet customer needs, helping businesses better understand their production processes.
• All relevant departments can be informed about production requirements.
• Optimize the ability to store raw materials, avoid shortages during the production process.
• Prepare essential human resources for upcoming production activities.
• Determine production volume based on demand, and at the same time create a maintenance plan for the business's production line.
• Calculate reasonable and safe inventory, helping businesses optimize the process of importing raw materials, avoiding shortages or excess waste.

3. Key factors to help build effective MPS

To build a detailed and effective production schedule, data including customer demand estimates, safety inventory statistics, etc. are essential data. help create an MPS that closely matches the market needs and actual capacity of the business, let's learn in detail about the factors below.

3.1 Customer demand forecast

Forecasting customer demand allows calculating the number of products that need to be produced, from which a suitable production schedule can be drawn up. Businesses need to collect historical sales data from departments such as Marketing and Sales to measure and predict future customer needs.

3.2 Safety inventory statistics table

The safety inventory sheet is important data that affects the construction of a production schedule. It indicates the amount of stock needed in cases where an unexpected large order is received. From there, managers can provide a suitable basis to create a scientific MPS to produce reasonable output to supply to the market.

3.3 Other factors

Other factors that should be considered by manufacturing businesses when planning MPS master production schedules include:

• Product catalog: To schedule production, businesses need a product catalog that includes all product designs produced. After analysis, businesses need to arrange the product list by popularity, especially the most produced items will be prioritized at the top of the list.
• Variation list for each product: For each product, businesses need to create a list of specific variations such as size, color and other factors depending on the product type.
• Specific time: Businesses need to allocate time by day, week, month and year to schedule the most specific production process. Targets need to be determined by year, while production schedules need to be determined by month/week and specific tasks need to be determined by day. The purpose of this is to help businesses flexibly adjust production plans if necessary.
• Production quantity: Businesses need to determine the number of products that will be produced over a periodic period such as weekly, monthly or yearly.

4. Steps to create an effective MPS production schedule

Building an effective production schedule with a specific plan will help businesses maintain stable operations and accurately estimate resources. To establish an effective MPS production schedule, businesses need to take the following steps:

4.1 Determine production completion time

When building a production schedule, businesses need to clearly define the time period to complete the required product. To do this, businesses can ask the following questions:

• After placing an order, how long does it take to import and synthesize production materials?
• How long does it take to bring materials into the production line and create products?
• How long does the packaging and quality control process take?
• How long does it take to package products and prepare them for delivery to customers?

In addition, businesses can combine past experience and production data to determine these time periods in a more accurate and grounded way.

4.2 Assess market demand

To accurately calculate production volume, businesses need to evaluate customer needs to determine market trends for their products. For products with high demand, businesses need to ensure production volume is large enough to avoid shortages. On the contrary, for products with low demand, businesses need to balance production volume to avoid overproduction, causing waste of resources and economy.

4.3 Identify necessary resources

After calculating the production volume for each type of product, businesses need to arrange the necessary resources to carry out that process. Those resources include labor force, machinery and raw materials for production.

In allocating the number of workers for production, businesses need to have a schedule based on the volume and nature of the work, while ensuring the skill level of the workers to meet production requirements.

Machinery and equipment for production purposes is an important element in the enterprise's production process. Machine models, accompanying equipment, technical parameters and factory area all affect the production process. Therefore, a detailed and accurate listing of these factors in the production schedule is essential to avoid affecting other resources related to production.

To ensure a smooth production process, businesses need to pay attention to the list of raw materials including the quality and quantity to use. In addition, businesses also need to prepare a backup plan to handle risks that may occur during the production process such as damage or expiration.

In the above article, 1C Vietnam shared details about MPS as well as steps to create effective production schedules for businesses. In addition, don't forget to follow other articles on 1C Vietnam's website to update useful information about production management as well as business management!