Aims and Fit of Module

Aims of this module is that the production planning and control is concerned with planning and controlling all aspects of manufacturing, including managing materials, scheduling machines and people, and coordinating suppliers and key customers. An effective production planning and control system is key to the success of any goods producing company; moreover, truly effective production planning and control systems coordinate supply chains—joint efforts across company boundaries. The production planning and control systems need to continuously adapt and respond to changes in the company environment, strategy, customer requirements, particular problems, and new supply chain opportunities.

The module provides the student with comprehensive understanding of key principles and techniques to assure effective production planning and control. The aims of this module are to enable students to:

(1) Understand the principles and role of production planning and control.

(2) Be able to assess the effectiveness of a production planning and control system.

(3) Understand and apply a range of tools and techniques relevant to the optimisation of production planning and control system.

Learning outcomes

A. assess and map the typical tasks performed by the production planning and control system and how do these tasks affect company operations.

B. critically analyse and evaluate the factors that impact on the performance across the production planning and control system.

C. demonstrate an in-depth understanding of how to design a production planning and control system; and how product and process issues affect the MPC system design.

Method of teaching and learning

The teaching philosophy of the module follows very much the philosophy of Syntegrative Education. This has meant that the teaching delivery pattern, which follows more intensive block teaching, allows more meaningful contribution from industry partners. This philosophy is carried through also in terms of assessment, with reduction on the use of exams and increase in coursework, especially problem-based assessments that are project focused. The delivery pattern provides space in the semester for students to concentrate on completing the assessments.

The module is delivered through a series of lectures, seminars, tutorials, andlabs.
Both international and Chinese supply chain management case study materials will be utilized to further expose students to practical applications of the principles.

Four exercises will be scheduled to cover different topics of practices of production planning and control system. Two of these will be game based exercises and the remainder will be based on case study materials and application of optimisation tools and techniques used in supply chain management.