Practical Production Control

While other books describe production control from an idealistic perspective, this book explains the real work of successful production control. The reader will learn: how the scheduling task can be decomposed and organized; how the production control department can be structured; how to hire and train schedulers; and how software tools can be used to augment the scheduler's skill. Suggestions for setting reasonable expectations for their use and a how to avoid implementation problems are provided. Readers will discover what production control involves beyond MRP-II, Gantt Charts, and other mechanical tools. Numerous assessment tools are also provided and much more.

Kenneth N. McKay is a professor in the Department of Management Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo. He holds an MSc and PhD in management science from Waterloo and has conducted interdisciplinary research on the scheduling problem in real factories since the mid 1980s. Professor McKay has also been involved in the development of commercial software tools for planning and scheduling since 1986. Vincent C. S. Wiers holds a MSc. and a PhD. in Industrial Engineering and Management Science from the Eindhoven University of Technology. After years of working as a supply chain management consultant specializing in implementing Advanced Planning and Scheduling systems, he started his own consultanting company in 2003.