Differences between Planning and Scheduling

With regard to the field of manufacturing, the terms “production planning” and “production scheduling” are often interchanged with little regard for the difference between the two connected processes. When a project is to be begun, the production team comes together to complete it in a timely manner by performing different duties. The steps to complete this project must be outlined. Then, those steps must be assigned a time and resource. The first in the series of these tasks is planning.

Planning is the process of deciding how to go about doing something before starting to do it. A plan is concerned with setting a path from the current moment to a desired outcome in the foreseeable future. This path comes together in a series of detailed steps that guide the team to their end goal. Most people are familiar with this concept as it is involved in our everyday lives; however, a production planner is compensated for studying, developing, and applying the sharp skill set required to build a project in just the amount of time that is needed without incurring unnecessary costs. Production planners are familiar with and utilize production planning software on a daily basis to organize their work.

A planner works closely with the rest of the team as other members frequently review the plan for a project, add comments, and approve of the plan’s different aspects. Changes are often made until an ideal plan is completed. This final draft is the most realistic and refined in relation to the availability of resources necessary to complete a project. Resources are the materials, equipment, and workers necessary to implement the polished plan.

Upon completion of the plan, the task of scheduling is initiated. While planners get better at their craft from hands-on experience in the field, schedulers learn everything they need in the classroom. One of the abilities schedulers in which schedulers must show strength is that of using production scheduling software to record pertinent data about when certain tasks are to take place. They are data-entry people who take the information created by the planner and other team members to create a schedule. Scheduling is a full-time position and a project’s needs for schedulers rely upon the project’s size and needs. Especially large projects rely upon multiple schedulers. Just how planners rework their plans to arrive at the best course of action, schedulers update schedules based on outside changes. Schedulers keep the rest of the team informed about the project’s progress as it unfolds. Their goal is to build a project schedule in terms of how long it will take to complete the project in question within a realistic and efficient time frame, regardless of cost.