Master Schedule
Basically, a master schedule refers to a plan for the finished end items, which are by nature very much planned for. Also known as the master production schedule, MS operates as an imperative and distinct linkage amid all planning processes. Via the aid of such a schedule, an individual might recognize the requirements for a particular end item either by quantity or date. Incorporations, MS is largely generated to distinguish the quantity of each commodity that is to be produced over a given planning horizon. This implies that MS constitutes a very inimitable component of a firm’s sales program that perfectly manages the designed response to the market demands (Waters 312).
In management and operations language, MS is similarly known as the master of every schedule. This is because it offers the purchasing, planning, production, and the top management all the required information needed to plan and control the entire operation or manufacturing process. MS thus plays a significant role pertaining to the balancing of supply and demand. For instance, MS aids in satisfying the clients demands consistent with the supplier base and factory limits. It could be drawn on to know the number of items that are to be manufactured, the designed stock of raw material as well as the finished parts and products. MS tells the corporation what is supposed to be produced and equally denotes the period in which the product manufacturing ought to be completed. However, MS must not be perceived as a manufacturing-plan, sales forecast, final assembly schedule, or a wish list. In fact, it may merely be linked with end products but not planning, which involve component or parts productions. The latter listing necessitates comprehensive planning.
Bill of Materials
In most cases, bill of material has been immensely quoted as a list that stipulates the parts utilized in building products. However, in manufacturing, the Bill of Materials describes the product structure in relation to materials and offers a discretionary link to the plant resources, namely labor, tooling, and machinery, which are defined via the routing bill. The BOM application tenders a concrete foundation for the production activities that are to be reviewed, tracked, and defined. Furthermore, bill of materials allows more sophisticated software including CRP and MRP to be appropriately utilized.
When a corporation produces a commodity, it is required that it keeps track of all components and materials used in the creation. This is what is called a BOM and it is often incorporated with the products prior to the shipment to a client or merchandizer. Normally, it is enclosed in the box that contains the product to be shipped. BOM seems is akin to a recipe given that it lists every ingredient that was used. Since no item is supposed to be capered, BOM is created via strict record keeping (Waters 314). This follows the fact it could later on used to center on product repairs issues and is also important when making orders for replacement parts.
Inventory Records
An inventory record is a comprehensive listing of the scope, complexity and volume of organization records habitually amassed purposely to create schedule records. It might incorporate either the computer or manual based records of the kind and quantity of inventories allocated to the firm’s work in progress, the firm orders, on order and inventories at hand. Furthermore, inventory records include the recent transactions history relating to every inventory item. Thus, it might also be dubbed as stock record. These records define the organizations inventory goals and scope via including other materials and all records (Waters 316). IR keeps the staff and management informed at each inventory stage by locating, describing and evaluating materials in terms of utilization.
IR has information that could be used to inform the involved business entities. For instance, IR has the date or period when the preparation of the inventories occurred alongside the symbol and name of the office which maintained inventory records. In case a particular office received inventory succession from a different office, IR indicates the symbol and name of that office by designating it like the creating office. IR also shows the telephone number, office and name of the individual who conducted the inventory. Other information included in the inventory record relates to: series location, inclusive dates, series title, medium, series description, the filing system or arrangement used, volume, cutoff, annual accumulation, vital record status, reference activities, disposition authority, permanent records position, findings aids as well as the restriction on use and access.
Gross Requirements
In operations management, gross requirement denotes the aggregate requirements (both independent and dependent demands) for a particular item without necessarily making allowances for scheduled receipts or the stock levels. It is computed using the BOM factor component multiplied by the required upstream quantity. To obtain gross requirements, the following formula is normally used: Gross requirements = Net requirements + Expected receipts + Inventory available.
Net Requirements
Often, net requirements is perceived as the quantity realized through deducting the schedule receipts and stock or inventory levels for any given item and consequently adjusting by way of the requisite safety stock levels. The production requirements are thereafter deemed as planned purchase orders or work orders based on the lot sizes. The general formula for obtaining net requirements = The Gross Requirements – (Expected receipts + Inventory available).
Time Phased Plan
This is an MRP process whereby all materials are planned for in a specific time interval. For instance, when a vendor habitually makes deliveries of materials on selected weekdays it becomes essential to plan for such materials based on similar cycles but attuned to the date of delivery. When planning for materials using time phased plan, it becomes mandatory to enter MRP type in master material record both for the planning cycle and time phased planning. The materials which are planned for on the basis of time phase are offered with MRP date within the scheduling sleeve. The date becomes reset when original materials master data is created and after each planning cycle (Waters 317).
Enterprise Resource Planning
Technology has and continues to play a key role in current business environment. Many business organizations rely heavily on information systems to provide accurate information in order to effectively manage their businesses. It is increasingly becoming important for all businesses to integrate information technology solutions for successful operation. For instance, many businesses adopted IT by installing ERP systems to accomplish transaction and data processing requirements. Many organizations consider these technologies important because of various reasons including ease of use, complete integration and reliability (Jacobs et al 16).
Ease of use: Information technologies have been considered important due to their easiness in usage. This ease stems right from the implementation process up to productivity improvement in business contexts. These technologies enable businesses to store, retrieve and manipulate data effectively using the basic computer knowledge. This allows businesses not only to identify areas that require improvement at the right time, but also provides the underlying solutions to the problems arising. Ease of use associated with information technologies is also important in allowing easy training of employees and easier support. In addition, these technologies have been customized according to the needs of specific businesses such that the users only need perform basic operations and obtain necessary results (Jacobs et al 16). This allows all employees to be more involved in the business enabling managers to understand their needs and respond at the appropriate time.
Complete integration: Information technologies such as ERP are software packages that are used to integrate various units of a business organization’s information system. These technologies provide many separate, but integrated modules that can be installed as a single package for any business. These modules incorporate all business parts including product planning, sales, maintaining inventory, providing customer service, interacting with suppliers, tracking orders and human resource aspect (Jacobs et al 16). Many large businesses use many different and isolated information systems, mostly because they have acquired or merged with other firms with varied systems. Technologies such as ERP integrate the isolated information systems and lead to improved data processing efficiency and reliability.
Reliability: Apparently, technology has been considered to be reliable due to its ability to reduce human error. Technologies such as ERP sit between all of the information systems and users despite where they are located in the pipeline. The system knows all the data collection points and is able to interface with all varying formats of the particular data. The system also intelligently routes data to the appropriate departments at the right time thus reducing the number of times a person has to enter data and hence reduce errors dramatically. ERP automatically takes all the information and formats it such that each department is able to perform the required functions (Jacobs et al 16).
Works Cited
Jacobs, Robert, William Berry, Clay Whybark, and Thomas Vollmann. Manufacturing Planning and Control for Supply Chain Management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Prof Med/Tech. (2011).
Waters, Donald. Inventory control and management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2003.