Master Production Schedule (MPS)

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Transcript:

Hi! In this video, we will walk you through the Master Production Scheduling functionality.

The Master Production Schedule, or MPS, is a critical tool for organizing the production planning process.

Its main goal is to balance sales, production, and purchases in the medium-to-long term in order to ensure optimal inventory levels.

The MPS module has three tabs. One for planning production output, one for managing workstation loads, and one for planning purchases.

The Master Production Schedule sheet is the main page, based on which workstation loads and procurement requirements will be calculated in the other tabs.

Here we can project product sales and production output for upcoming periods.

Each column header corresponds to the start date of a specific period.

In this example, each planning period has a length of one month. Planning by weeks or quarters is also possible.

Every product here is presented through six numbers in every period.

The “Starting Inventory” displays the projected beginning inventory quantity for the specified period.

This always equals the ending inventory of the previous period.

For the current period, this number automatically reflects the currently on-hand inventory, based on data from MRPeasy’s Stock module.

 “Sales Forecast”: This is where you input the sales forecast for the period.

 “Firm orders”: This number automatically includes confirmed customer orders from the CRM module, for which the delivery date falls within the period.

 “Production Plan”: Here, you should input the initial planned production output for the period.

 “Scheduled already”: This number automatically includes manufacturing orders from the Production Planning module which are scheduled to finish within this period.

 “Ending Inventory”: This field displays the projected ending inventory for the period. It’s calculated as starting inventory, minus demand, plus supply for the period.

Demand is determined as the greater value between sales forecasts and firm orders. Supply is similarly determined as the greater value between production plans and scheduled quantities.

Note that the current period does not take into account the forecast or the production plan. Here, the expected results are only driven by actual orders and already scheduled production.

The first time you open the MPS tab, it will be empty. To add products, press the plus button.

The order of products can be rearranged as necessary.

There is an option to roll up products for a summarized view, or expand them to see details.

After completing the initial production planning, the “Required Capacity” page allows you to analyze projected workstation workloads.

This view shows the capacity and load for all workstation groups.

For each group, ‘Total Capacity’ is calculated automatically and shows the total number of working hours of all workstations in the group.

 “Required Hours” displays the hours needed to manufacture the quantities shown in the “Production plan” row of the MPS view. These are calculated based on the routings of the products.

The colors indicate the load: light blue for below the minimum, light green for within the desired range, and orange as exceeding the maximum.

You can configure these levels in the settings of the Master Production Schedule, which we will show later.

You can manually imitate an increase or a decrease in the total capacity.

The Procurement Schedule tab is used for material planning.

Every item here in every period is presented through five numbers.

The “Starting Inventory” is the initial inventory level for the period, like in the Master Production Schedule view.

The “Demand by MPS” shows material demand that is calculated based on the products in the Master Production Schedule view and their bills of materials.

The supply side consists of two inputs:

 “Planned Quantity”: Here, you should input the initial planned purchases for the period.

 “Ordered Quantity”: The anticipated items to be received for the period. This automatically includes expected purchase orders from the Procurement module for which the delivery date falls within the period.

Finally, the projected “Ending Inventory” is calculated based on the starting inventory and the difference between supply and demand.

This view is color-coded as follows:

Green, for above the item’s reorder point.

Yellow, for between zero and the reorder point.

Orange, for below zero.

When you first open this section, this view will be empty. To add materials, press the plus button.

Let’s walk through the planning process using a practical example.

Let’s imagine that we produce three types of tables. These are added to the Master Production Schedule to help with better long-term planning.

First, the Sales Manager will input forecasts.

Our primary brand is varnished wood tables, with a steady forecast of 170 units per period.

The sales of polished tables are expected to pick up in the next six months, while the sales of the third product, the red table, are falling.

The Production Manager will adjust the planned production output to match demand and maintain acceptable inventory levels.

In the “Required Capacity” view, we can assess the impact on workstation loads.

The drying cabinet is always overloaded, causing a bottleneck.

We can observe that doubling the total working hours would result in improved workload management, with utilization remaining below 90%.

This simulation underscores two potential solutions: either double the capacity of the drying cabinet or revise the production plan and the sales forecast.

Once these questions are resolved, the Purchasing Manager can review the Procurement Schedule and make necessary adjustments to the procurement plan.

To enable the Master Production Schedule functionality, go to “Settings -> System Settings -> Enterprise Functions -> Master Production Schedule” and set the value to “Yes”.

Here you can select the lengths of the planning period: weeks, months, or quarters.

You can also set the minimum and maximum workstation load levels to automatically highlight the values in the Required Capacity view.

Lastly, don’t forget to grant your users the “Read” and “Update” permissions for Production Planning -> MPS.

In this video, we demonstrated the Master Production Schedule functionality.

To learn more about MRPeasy, please see our other videos.

Thanks for watching!