Production Planning and Capacity Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Production Planners, Production Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-OM-051

Before you join: Participants should have basic experience of production, operations, supply chain, inventory, procurement or scheduling activities.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Production plans fail when demand signals, material availability, labour capacity, machine time and delivery commitments are managed in separate spreadsheets or meetings. The result is avoidable expediting, unstable schedules, excess inventory, missed customer dates and overloaded work centres. Production planning and capacity management provide the operating discipline for converting demand into feasible, time-phased plans that sales, procurement, manufacturing and finance can use.

This course develops the methods used to plan and control production flow from aggregate planning through master production scheduling, material requirements planning and detailed capacity checks. Participants work with demand forecasts, inventory policies, bills of materials, routings, work-centre loads and supplier constraints. They learn to test whether a plan is feasible before committing delivery dates, identify bottlenecks, apply scheduling rules, manage production buffers and respond to disruptions without creating further instability.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with manufacturing, process industry and service-operations cases, planning calculations, group decision sessions and scheduling simulations. Participants progressively build an integrated production planning workbook during the programme. The final capstone requires them to prepare, review and present a rolling production and capacity plan containing demand assumptions, inventory policies, an MPS, material requirements, capacity loads, bottleneck actions and implementation controls.

The course is suited to professionals responsible for production, supply, materials, planning, scheduling, inventory, operations improvement or customer delivery performance. It is particularly useful where organisations need stronger coordination between commercial forecasts and the actual capacity of plants, people, equipment and suppliers.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a rolling demand forecast using time-series methods, forecast-error measures and documented assumptions
  • Develop an aggregate production plan balancing demand, inventory, workforce, overtime and subcontracting
  • Create a master production schedule using time fences, available-to-promise logic and planning bills
  • Run material requirements planning using bills of materials, netting logic and lot-sizing rules
  • Calculate work-centre loads using routings, standard times, resource profiles and capacity bills
  • Apply bottleneck management, finite scheduling and dispatching rules to improve production flow
  • Design inventory control policies using ABC-XYZ segmentation, safety stock and reorder-point calculations
  • Present an integrated production and capacity plan with risks, trade-offs, decisions and controls

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce feasible production plans rather than schedules based only on demand
  • Explain capacity shortages using load calculations, bottleneck evidence and recovery options
  • Improve credibility in S&OP, planning and cross-functional supply meetings
  • Use MPS and MRP outputs to identify material risks before production disruption
  • Present planning trade-offs clearly to operations, commercial and senior management teams

For your organisation

  • Fewer schedule changes caused by untested capacity and material assumptions
  • Lower expediting costs through earlier shortage and overload identification
  • Improved delivery reliability through realistic available-to-promise commitments
  • Reduced inventory exposure through differentiated safety-stock and replenishment policies
  • Better use of constrained equipment, labour and supplier capacity

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can define the planning structure, horizons and control points for a production operation.

  • Order qualifiers, winners and service promises translated into planning objectives
  • Process maps distinguish routings, queues, rework loops and handoffs
  • Volume-variety analysis selects appropriate planning and control approaches
  • Customer-order decoupling point determines forecast and order responsibilities
  • Make-to-stock, assemble-to-order, make-to-order and engineer-to-order compared
  • Planning horizons align strategic, tactical and execution decisions

Participants can prepare and assess demand forecasts for production planning decisions.

  • Demand history cleans promotions, stockouts, outliers and missing observations
  • Time-series patterns separate level, trend, seasonality and random variation
  • Moving averages and exponential smoothing produce baseline demand forecasts
  • Forecast error uses MAD, MAPE, bias and tracking signal
  • Collaborative demand review documents assumptions, risks and commercial intelligence
  • Forecast value added distinguishes useful judgement from avoidable intervention

Participants can develop aggregate plans that balance demand, output and operating costs.

  • Aggregate plan balances demand, workforce, inventory, overtime and subcontracting
  • Level, chase and hybrid strategies tested against operating constraints
  • Capacity units convert product mix into comparable planning measures
  • Rough-cut capacity planning checks critical resources against aggregate demand
  • Costed scenarios expose service, inventory and labour trade-offs
  • Monthly planning buckets connect sales plans with production capabilities

Participants can structure an S&OP cycle that produces timely cross-functional decisions.

  • S&OP calendar defines data cut-offs, review forums and decisions
  • Demand, supply and financial reconciliation prepare executive S&OP decisions
  • Exception-based dashboards focus discussion on material gaps and risks
  • Pre-S&OP recommendations state alternatives, owners, timing and decision requests
  • Consensus plans translate agreed actions into operational planning parameters
  • Meeting disciplines record decisions, assumptions, escalations and follow-up actions

Participants can set inventory policies that protect service without creating unnecessary stock.

  • ABC-XYZ segmentation sets differentiated control policies and review frequencies
  • Safety stock combines demand variability, lead-time variability and service targets
  • Reorder points convert lead time, demand rate and safety stock
  • Cycle stock, pipeline stock and anticipation stock expose inventory causes
  • EOQ tests ordering, holding and setup-cost trade-offs
  • Inventory accuracy controls protect planning records from transaction errors

Participants can create a master production schedule that supports reliable customer commitments.

  • Master production schedule translates demand plans into end-item quantities
  • Time fences protect near-term schedules from disruptive customer changes
  • Available-to-promise logic commits delivery dates against planned supply
  • Planning bills represent configurable families before final product selection
  • End-item priorities balance customer allocations, service rules and profitability
  • Weekly MPS updates reconcile demand changes with available capacity

Participants can translate master schedules into time-phased component and purchase requirements.

  • Bill of materials structures define parent-component relationships and quantities
  • Low-level codes sequence component planning through multilevel product structures
  • MRP explosion converts master schedules into gross component requirements
  • Netting logic offsets on-hand balances, scheduled receipts and safety stock
  • Lot-sizing rules compare lot-for-lot, EOQ and periodic-order quantities
  • Planned order releases offset requirements by cumulative lead time

Participants can assess the planning data and parameters that determine schedule quality.

  • Planning lead times separate queue, setup, run, move and inspection
  • Routing standards specify work centres, operations, times and alternate paths
  • Data governance assigns ownership for bills, routings and planning parameters
  • Change control prevents obsolete specifications corrupting material plans
  • Parameter audits test lead times, yields, lot sizes and safety stocks
  • Master-data exception reports identify records requiring corrective action

Participants can calculate and interpret capacity measures for production resources.

  • Design, effective and actual capacity distinguish theoretical and usable output
  • Capacity cushions protect service commitments against demand and process uncertainty
  • Utilisation and efficiency calculations reveal resource performance gaps
  • Product routings convert planned quantities into work-centre load hours
  • Capacity bills estimate resource needs before detailed material plans exist
  • Resource profiles show time-phased load across critical work centres

Participants can test plans against resource capacity and select practical adjustment actions.

  • Rough-cut capacity plans test MPS feasibility at critical resources
  • Capacity requirements planning loads released orders against work-centre availability
  • Finite and infinite loading assumptions produce different schedule commitments
  • Load reports identify overload periods, underloads and constrained resources
  • Capacity adjustments assess overtime, shifts, subcontracting and alternate routings
  • Feasibility decisions reconcile promised dates with resource and material constraints

Participants can identify constraints and manage production flow around the bottleneck.

  • Theory of Constraints identifies the system constraint and protective capacity
  • Drum-buffer-rope synchronises release rates with bottleneck output
  • Constraint schedules prioritise products using throughput contribution and due dates
  • Buffer management signals material shortages and schedule recovery needs
  • Setup reduction applies SMED principles to release constrained capacity
  • Exploitation, subordination, elevation and repetition structure constraint improvement

Participants can sequence work orders using priority rules and resource constraints.

  • Dispatching rules compare earliest due date, critical ratio and shortest processing time
  • Gantt charts visualise machine sequences, overlaps and committed completion dates
  • Finite scheduling resolves resource conflicts using sequence-dependent setup rules
  • Campaign planning groups compatible products to reduce cleaning and changeover time
  • Schedule stability limits nervousness while preserving response to material exceptions
  • Shop-floor priorities distinguish expedite requests from approved production signals

Participants can apply flow measures and pull controls to reduce work-in-process and delays.

  • Value stream maps expose waiting, transport, queues and information delays
  • Takt time compares customer demand rate with available production time
  • Little's Law relates work in process, throughput and flow time
  • Kanban sizing sets card quantities from demand, replenishment time and variation
  • CONWIP controls total work release through a shared work-in-process limit
  • Pull-system rules define replenishment triggers, supermarket locations and escalation

Participants can incorporate equipment performance and quality losses into capacity plans.

  • Overall Equipment Effectiveness separates availability, performance and quality losses
  • Loss trees classify breakdowns, minor stops, speed losses and defects
  • Planned maintenance windows incorporated into capacity calendars and production schedules
  • First-pass yield adjusts effective capacity for quality-related losses
  • Pareto analysis ranks recurring losses by lost production hours
  • Daily tier meetings connect performance deviations with assigned corrective actions

Participants can plan labour capacity while accounting for skills, shifts and availability.

  • Labour standards calculate staffing requirements from planned hours and productivity
  • Skill matrices reveal qualification constraints, cross-training priorities and coverage risks
  • Shift patterns test coverage, fatigue, handover and labour-rule constraints
  • Workforce flexibility combines multiskilling, overtime, temporary labour and redeployment
  • Labour capacity plans reconcile headcount, absenteeism, learning curves and demand
  • Training plans protect qualified coverage during demand peaks and planned absences

Participants can align supplier releases and material availability with production requirements.

  • Supplier schedules translate component requirements into firm and forecast releases
  • Supplier capacity assessments test lead time, allocation and minimum-order constraints
  • Material availability checks coordinate purchase orders, inbound status and production needs
  • Expediting criteria distinguish genuine shortages from planning and data errors
  • Supplier performance measures track delivery reliability, quality and responsiveness
  • Risk registers define alternate sources, buffers and recovery actions

Participants can use planning KPIs to identify variance, prioritise action and improve control.

  • Plan adherence measures execution against frozen schedules and approved priorities
  • Schedule attainment separates completed quantity, timing and quality acceptance
  • OTIF tracks customer delivery performance against confirmed date and quantity
  • Inventory turns, days of supply and obsolescence reveal working-capital effects
  • Capacity dashboards link load, utilisation, backlog and constraint performance
  • Root-cause analysis uses five whys and fishbone diagrams for recurring variance

Participants can prepare and manage production recovery plans for operational disruptions.

  • Scenario plans model demand spikes, supplier failure, downtime and absenteeism
  • Available capacity calculations include recovery time, buffers and contingency options
  • Decision rules rank customer orders during constrained supply situations
  • Allocation policies balance contractual commitments, margin, fairness and strategic accounts
  • Recovery schedules sequence backlog clearance without creating new bottlenecks
  • Escalation protocols define authority, communication cadence and decision thresholds

Participants can establish planning reviews, controls and improvement actions across functions.

  • Integrated planning workbook links forecast, inventory, MPS, materials and capacity
  • Assumption registers document source data, parameter choices and approval status
  • Three-month rolling plans connect weekly schedules with monthly supply decisions
  • Exception logs prioritise shortages, overloads, demand changes and data corrections
  • Planning review packs present options, impacts, recommendations and required decisions
  • Implementation roadmaps assign milestones, owners, controls and review cadence

Participants can build, review and present a complete rolling production and capacity plan.

  • Case demand data translated into a rolling production and capacity plan
  • Forecast, inventory and MPS assumptions documented within a planning workbook
  • Material requirements and supplier releases checked against component availability
  • Work-centre loads tested using rough-cut and detailed capacity methods
  • Bottleneck actions, sequencing rules and recovery options justified with evidence
  • Executive review presents trade-offs, risks, decisions and implementation controls

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Rolling demand forecast template
  2. Aggregate production planning model
  3. Master production schedule workbook
  4. Material and capacity requirements checklist
  5. Bottleneck and recovery action plan
  6. Integrated production planning review pack

Who should attend

  • Production Planners — need feasible plans that balance demand, materials and available capacity
  • Production Managers — need stable schedules, controlled flow and reliable customer delivery
  • Supply Chain Managers — need coordinated demand, supply, inventory and supplier decisions
  • Materials Managers — need accurate MRP outputs, supplier schedules and shortage controls
  • Operations Managers — need measurable improvements in throughput, capacity use and service performance
  • Continuous Improvement Specialists — need planning methods that sustain flow and constraint improvements

Skills and tools covered

Demand forecastingMaster production schedulingCapacity requirements planningInventory policy designBottleneck managementProduction scheduling

Tools and standards

Sales and Operations Planning, Master Production Scheduling, Material Requirements Planning, Theory of Constraints

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce planning logic, followed by worked calculations, sector-based cases, group planning sessions and scheduling simulations. Participants analyse demand history, build aggregate and master schedules, run material and capacity checks, and resolve bottleneck scenarios. Instructor feedback focuses on assumptions, data quality, feasibility and decision quality. Application planning connects the methods to participants’ own products, work centres, supplier relationships and planning cycles. The final capstone brings the full planning process into one reviewed and presented deliverable.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic experience of production, operations, supply chain, inventory, procurement or scheduling activities. They should be comfortable reading simple tables, using percentages and working with spreadsheet calculations. Familiarity with concepts such as lead time, inventory, demand, work orders or production routes is helpful but not essential. Participants do not need prior experience with ERP systems, advanced statistics, optimisation software, Lean certification or APICS qualifications. The course explains the planning logic before applying calculations and decision methods.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic production, operations, inventory or supply activities and be comfortable with simple spreadsheet calculations. Prior ERP, MRP, Lean or advanced statistical experience is not required.

Bring a laptop if possible, together with non-confidential examples of your planning challenges, products, lead times or capacity constraints. Course materials and planning templates are provided.

The course is designed for planners, schedulers, production managers, materials managers, supply chain professionals and operations improvement specialists. It also suits managers who need to challenge production plans and delivery commitments.

Lean courses focus mainly on waste reduction, flow improvement and problem solving. This course concentrates on converting demand into feasible production, material, inventory and capacity plans, while using selected flow and constraint methods where they support planning decisions.

Participants can apply the templates to demand reviews, aggregate plans, MPS updates, capacity checks, shortage meetings and supplier-release decisions. The capstone structure can also be adapted as a planning review pack for their own operation.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The first week establishes demand, inventory, MPS, MRP and capacity methods; the second week covers constraints, scheduling, flow, disruption response, governance and the final capstone.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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