Production Planning and Scheduling Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Production Planners, Production Supervisors and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-OM-035

Before you join: Participants should have basic experience of manufacturing, production operations, supply planning, procurement or shop-floor supervision.

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, capacity limits and shop-floor priorities are managed separately. The result is late orders, excess work-in-progress, urgent expediting, unstable schedules and avoidable overtime. Production planners and supervisors need a disciplined way to translate demand into feasible production requirements, then maintain schedules when conditions change.

This course develops the planning and scheduling methods used in discrete and process manufacturing. Participants work through demand forecasting, sales and operations planning, master production scheduling, bills of materials, material requirements planning, capacity requirements planning and finite scheduling. They learn to set planning parameters, identify bottlenecks, sequence orders, manage changeovers, control work-in-progress and use schedule adherence, OEE, inventory and service measures to improve performance. The course also addresses the practical relationship between planners, procurement, production, maintenance, quality and customer service.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with manufacturing cases, spreadsheet-based planning work, scheduling simulations, group reviews and individual application planning. Participants progressively build a production planning and scheduling pack using demand, inventory, routing, capacity and order data. By the final module, they have produced, reviewed and presented an integrated plan containing a demand plan, master schedule, material plan, capacity check, shop-floor schedule and control measures.

The course is suited to professionals responsible for making production commitments realistic and deliverable. It is especially relevant to manufacturing, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, consumer goods, engineering, automotive, utilities maintenance and other operations where materials, labour, equipment and customer due dates must be coordinated.

What you will be able to do

  • Translate demand, inventory and customer commitments into a structured production planning process
  • Prepare demand forecasts using moving averages, exponential smoothing and forecast error measures
  • Build a master production schedule from demand, inventory and available capacity data
  • Calculate material requirements using bills of materials, inventory records and MRP logic
  • Assess labour and equipment capacity through capacity requirements planning and load profiles
  • Create finite production schedules using priority rules, sequencing methods and constraint data
  • Monitor schedule performance using adherence, service, inventory, OEE and work-in-progress measures
  • Present an integrated production planning and scheduling pack for management review

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make production commitments using documented demand, material and capacity assumptions
  • Reduce reliance on urgent expediting through clearer planning parameters and priorities
  • Explain MRP, capacity constraints and scheduling trade-offs to operational stakeholders
  • Build practical schedules that reflect bottlenecks, changeovers and order due dates
  • Present planning decisions with measurable service, inventory and utilisation evidence

For your organisation

  • Improved order promise accuracy through feasible master production schedules
  • Lower material shortages and excess inventory through disciplined MRP parameters
  • Higher schedule adherence through clearer dispatching and shop-floor priorities
  • Reduced bottleneck losses through capacity analysis and constraint-focused scheduling
  • More consistent planning decisions across sales, procurement, production and maintenance

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can map the planning hierarchy, decision points and information flows for a production operation.

  • Planning horizons from sales plan through daily dispatching decisions
  • Push, pull and hybrid production control systems compared
  • Order winners, qualifiers and customer-service policies defined
  • Planning responsibilities across sales, procurement, production and logistics clarified
  • Time fences protecting near-term schedules from uncontrolled changes
  • Data flows linking forecasts, orders, inventory, routings and capacity

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

  • Demand patterns classified as level, trend, seasonal or intermittent
  • Moving averages calculated for stable, short-cycle product demand
  • Exponential smoothing applied using selected alpha values
  • Forecast bias and MAD used to assess forecast quality
  • Sales orders, promotions and market intelligence reconciled with forecasts
  • Demand review rules separating firm orders from forecast consumption

Participants can prepare an aggregate plan balancing demand, supply, inventory and capacity.

  • S&OP monthly planning cycle, inputs, decisions and outputs
  • Product families grouped for aggregate demand and capacity planning
  • Chase, level and mixed production strategies compared
  • Inventory, overtime, subcontracting and backlog cost trade-offs calculated
  • Rough-cut capacity checks applied to aggregate production plans
  • Executive S&OP decisions documented through assumptions and action owners

Participants can create a master production schedule from demand and available inventory.

  • Master production schedule records structured by item and period
  • Projected available balance calculated from receipts, demand and safety stock
  • Available-to-promise quantities calculated against customer order commitments
  • Planning time fences defined for frozen, slushy and liquid periods
  • Lot sizing rules selected for finished-goods replenishment decisions
  • MPS changes evaluated against materials, capacity and customer promises

Participants can validate the product and inventory data needed for material planning.

  • Bills of materials structured through parent-child component relationships
  • Low-level codes assigned for accurate MRP explosion sequencing
  • Inventory status records checked for on-hand, allocated and available balances
  • Lead times separated into purchasing, manufacturing, queue and transit elements
  • Safety stock policies matched to demand variability and replenishment risk
  • Engineering changes controlled through effective dates and revision status

Participants can calculate planned material requirements using MRP records and rules.

  • Gross requirements generated from MPS demand and component usage
  • Netting logic subtracts available inventory and scheduled receipts
  • MRP explosion calculates dependent demand through multi-level product structures
  • Planned order receipts offset by lead time into release dates
  • Lot-for-lot, EOQ and period-order quantity rules compared
  • Exception messages reviewed for shortages, reschedules and cancelled orders

Participants can assess work-centre loads against available labour and equipment capacity.

  • Routings define operations, work centres, run times and setup times
  • Capacity requirements calculated from planned orders and standard hours
  • Load profiles compared with available capacity by work centre
  • Finite and infinite loading assumptions distinguished for planning decisions
  • Capacity gaps addressed through overtime, shifts, outsourcing or rescheduling
  • Resource calendars incorporate holidays, maintenance and planned downtime

Participants can identify constraints and protect throughput using Theory of Constraints principles.

  • Theory of Constraints identifies system constraints limiting throughput
  • Drum-buffer-rope synchronises release rates with bottleneck capacity
  • Bottleneck time protected from shortages, breakdowns and changeovers
  • Buffer status signals when intervention and recovery actions are needed
  • Non-bottleneck utilisation managed without creating excess work-in-progress
  • Throughput, inventory and operating expense considered in improvement decisions

Participants can set and review planning parameters that support reliable production plans.

  • Lead-time offsets tested against actual purchasing and production performance
  • Safety stock levels reviewed using service targets and demand variation
  • Minimum order quantities checked against consumption and storage constraints
  • Yield, scrap and shrinkage factors incorporated into material requirements
  • Routing standards reviewed against observed setup and run times
  • Master data governance assigns owners, review frequencies and change controls

Participants can assemble a connected demand, material and capacity plan for a defined product area.

  • Demand plan consolidated from forecasts, firm orders and assumptions
  • Master schedule reconciled with inventory targets and customer commitments
  • Material plan identifies planned releases and supplier delivery requirements
  • Capacity plan highlights overloaded work centres and response options
  • Planning assumptions recorded for lead times, yields and availability
  • Management review pack presents risks, decisions and accountable owners

Participants can prepare the order and resource data required for detailed scheduling.

  • Scheduling objectives balance due dates, utilisation, flow and changeovers
  • Production orders checked for quantities, due dates and routing status
  • Operation times separated into setup, run, move and queue elements
  • Resource constraints identified across machines, labour, tools and materials
  • Schedule granularity selected by shift, day, hour or operation
  • Gantt charts used to visualise order timing and resource conflicts

Participants can build a feasible finite schedule for constrained work centres.

  • Finite scheduling allocates work only within available resource capacity
  • Forward scheduling calculates earliest completion from release dates
  • Backward scheduling calculates latest start from promised delivery dates
  • Resource calendars constrain schedules by shifts, breaks and downtime
  • Material availability checks prevent releasing impossible production orders
  • Schedule feasibility tested against bottlenecks and linked operations

Participants can apply priority rules to create clear shop-floor dispatch lists.

  • First-come, first-served priority rule applied to queued orders
  • Earliest due date sequencing reduces lateness across competing orders
  • Shortest processing time rule reduces average flow time
  • Critical ratio highlights orders needing immediate scheduling attention
  • Slack time remaining identifies vulnerable orders before due dates
  • Dispatch lists state sequence, quantities, resources and required materials

Participants can sequence production orders to reduce setup losses and operational risk.

  • Changeover matrices identify sequence-dependent setup time and cleaning requirements
  • Product families grouped by colour, grade, allergen or tooling
  • Campaign planning balances setup reduction against inventory exposure
  • SMED principles separate internal and external setup activities
  • Sequence rules protect quality, sanitation and regulatory requirements
  • Schedule alternatives compared using setup hours, service and inventory

Participants can control work-in-progress and release work at a sustainable rate.

  • Little's Law links work-in-progress, throughput and flow time
  • Kanban cards establish replenishment signals for repeatable flow
  • CONWIP limits total work released into the production system
  • Release control prevents upstream output exceeding downstream capacity
  • Queue limits expose blocked flow and recurring resource constraints
  • Visual boards show order status, shortages and escalation needs

Participants can manage schedule disruptions through structured review and recovery actions.

  • Daily production meetings review safety, output, quality and constraints
  • Schedule adherence calculated from planned versus completed operations
  • Shortage escalation identifies ownership, recovery date and customer impact
  • Equipment failure response protects bottleneck capacity and critical orders
  • Recovery schedules evaluate resequencing, overtime and alternative resources
  • Change-control rules prevent informal priority changes disrupting production

Participants can select and interpret measures that reveal planning and scheduling performance.

  • OTIF measures customer delivery performance against confirmed commitments
  • Schedule adherence separates planning quality from execution discipline
  • OEE tracks availability, performance and quality losses
  • Inventory turns and days of supply reveal stock effectiveness
  • Work-in-progress ageing identifies stalled orders and hidden queues
  • Plan-versus-actual variance reviews trigger corrective action ownership

Participants can specify how ERP and planning systems should support planning decisions.

  • ERP transaction discipline maintains reliable inventory and order status
  • MRP run parameters determine planning horizon, netting and regeneration
  • APS systems model finite capacity, constraints and alternative scenarios
  • Exception dashboards focus planners on shortages, overloads and late orders
  • Data validation checks identify invalid routings, BOMs and lead times
  • System outputs reviewed before release through planner judgement

Participants can establish review routines and improvement priorities for production planning.

  • Planning cadence links monthly S&OP, weekly MPS and daily scheduling
  • Decision rights distinguish planner, supervisor and manager accountabilities
  • Root cause analysis investigates recurring shortages and schedule failures
  • Pareto analysis prioritises products, work centres and loss causes
  • PDCA cycles test planning parameter changes before wider adoption
  • Improvement backlog ranks actions by service, inventory and capacity impact

Participants can build, review and present a complete production planning and scheduling pack for a defined operating case.

  • Demand forecast and order book converted into planning requirements
  • Master production schedule balances service commitments and inventory targets
  • MRP plan identifies component releases, shortages and supplier actions
  • Capacity check exposes bottlenecks, overloads and recovery options
  • Finite schedule sequences orders by due date and changeover constraints
  • Performance dashboard defines adherence, OEE, inventory and service measures
  • Management presentation defends assumptions, trade-offs, actions and review cadence

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

What you take back to work

  1. Demand forecasting worksheet
  2. Master production schedule template
  3. Material requirements planning calculator
  4. Capacity load and bottleneck analysis
  5. Finite scheduling and dispatch-list template
  6. Integrated production planning and scheduling pack

Who should attend

  • Production Planners — need to convert demand into feasible material and capacity plans
  • Production Supervisors — need stable daily priorities and realistic work-centre schedules
  • Supply Chain Planners — need to align supply plans with manufacturing constraints
  • Operations Managers — need better control of delivery performance, inventory and utilisation
  • Materials Managers — need accurate MRP inputs and disciplined replenishment decisions
  • Procurement Professionals — need visibility of planned material requirements and supplier lead times

Skills and tools covered

Demand forecastingMaster production schedulingMaterial requirements planningCapacity planningFinite schedulingShop-floor control

Tools and standards

Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP), Theory of Constraints, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each planning method, followed by manufacturing cases, spreadsheet calculations, group exercises and scheduling simulations. Participants interpret demand, inventory, bill of material, routing and capacity data before making planning decisions. Discussion focuses on the trade-offs planners face when materials arrive late, demand changes, equipment fails or priorities conflict. Individual application planning connects the methods to each participant's workplace, while review sessions test assumptions, calculations and control measures.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic experience of manufacturing, production operations, supply planning, procurement or shop-floor supervision. They should be comfortable reading simple spreadsheets and working with quantities, dates, lead times and percentages. Familiarity with an ERP system, bills of materials, routings or production orders is helpful but not essential. The course does not require advanced mathematics, prior use of specialist scheduling software, programming knowledge or formal operations management qualifications. Participants gain most value when they can relate the methods to a current production area or planning challenge.

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

Participants should understand basic production or supply operations and be comfortable using simple spreadsheets. Prior MRP, ERP or scheduling-system experience is useful but not required.

Participants should bring a laptop if attending live online and, where permitted, non-confidential examples of their planning challenges. Useful examples include lead times, capacity constraints, inventory issues, delivery failures or recurring schedule changes.

It is designed for production planners, supply planners, production supervisors, materials managers, operations managers and procurement professionals. It is most relevant where customer demand must be matched to material, labour and equipment availability.

Inventory management training focuses mainly on stock policy, replenishment and control. This course concentrates on converting demand into production, material and capacity plans, then sequencing and controlling execution on the shop floor.

Participants can use the templates and methods to review a product family, work centre or production area immediately after the course. The capstone pack provides a practical format for discussing demand, material shortages, capacity gaps and schedule priorities with managers.

The first part establishes demand planning, MPS, MRP and capacity planning methods. The second part focuses on finite scheduling, dispatching, execution control, performance measures and the final integrated capstone; each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 with about 6.5 contact hours.

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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