Chapter 10 Planning And Control
What is planning and control?
Planning and control is concerned with the activities that attempt to reconcile the demands of the
market and the ability of the operation’s resources to deliver. It provides the systems, procedures
and decisions which bring different aspects of supply and demand together. Any last-minute changes
may require some degree of re-planning.
Customers’ perceptions of an operation will partially be shaped by the customer interface of its
planning and control system.
The difference between planning and control
The division between planning and control is not clear, either in theory or in practice. However,
there are some general features that help to distinguish between the two.
Planning is a formulization of what is supposed to happen, but it doesn’t guarantee that it will.
Therefore, it is a statement of intention.
Control is the process of coping with these types of change. Control activities make the adjustments
which allow the operation to achieve the objectives that the plan has set, even when the
assumptions on which the plan was based do not hold true.
Long-, medium- and short-term planning and control
In the very long term, operations managers make plans concerning what they intend to do, what
resources they need, and what objectives they hope to achieve. They will use forecasts of likely
demand described in aggregated terms. Operations managers will focus mainly on volume and
financial targets.
Medium-term planning and control is more detailed. It looks ahead to assess the overall demand
which the operation must meet in a partially disaggregated manner. Different categories of staff will
have been identified and broad staffing levels in each categories set. Just as important,
contingencies will have been put in place which allow for slight deviations from the plans. These
contingencies will act as ‘reserve’ resources and make planning and control easier in the short term.
In short-term planning and control, many of the resources will have been set and it will be difficult to
make large changes. However, short-term interventions are possible if things are not going to plan.
In making short-term interventions and changes to the plan, operations managers will be attempting
to balance the quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and costs of their operation dynamically on an
ad hoc basis.
, The volume-variety effect on planning and control
Operations which produce a high variety of services or products in relatively low volume will have
customers with different requirements and use different processes from operations which create
standardized services or product with high volume.
The volume-variety characteristics of an operation will affect its planning and control activities.
How do supply and demand affect planning and control?
If planning and control is the process of reconciling demand with supply, then the nature of the
decisions taken to plan and control an operation will depend on both the nature of demand and the
nature of supply in that operation.
Uncertainty in supply and demand
Uncertainty is important in planning and control because it makes it more difficult. Sometimes the
supply of inputs to an operation may be uncertain. In other operations supply is relatively
What is planning and control?
Planning and control is concerned with the activities that attempt to reconcile the demands of the
market and the ability of the operation’s resources to deliver. It provides the systems, procedures
and decisions which bring different aspects of supply and demand together. Any last-minute changes
may require some degree of re-planning.
Customers’ perceptions of an operation will partially be shaped by the customer interface of its
planning and control system.
The difference between planning and control
The division between planning and control is not clear, either in theory or in practice. However,
there are some general features that help to distinguish between the two.
Planning is a formulization of what is supposed to happen, but it doesn’t guarantee that it will.
Therefore, it is a statement of intention.
Control is the process of coping with these types of change. Control activities make the adjustments
which allow the operation to achieve the objectives that the plan has set, even when the
assumptions on which the plan was based do not hold true.
Long-, medium- and short-term planning and control
In the very long term, operations managers make plans concerning what they intend to do, what
resources they need, and what objectives they hope to achieve. They will use forecasts of likely
demand described in aggregated terms. Operations managers will focus mainly on volume and
financial targets.
Medium-term planning and control is more detailed. It looks ahead to assess the overall demand
which the operation must meet in a partially disaggregated manner. Different categories of staff will
have been identified and broad staffing levels in each categories set. Just as important,
contingencies will have been put in place which allow for slight deviations from the plans. These
contingencies will act as ‘reserve’ resources and make planning and control easier in the short term.
In short-term planning and control, many of the resources will have been set and it will be difficult to
make large changes. However, short-term interventions are possible if things are not going to plan.
In making short-term interventions and changes to the plan, operations managers will be attempting
to balance the quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and costs of their operation dynamically on an
ad hoc basis.
, The volume-variety effect on planning and control
Operations which produce a high variety of services or products in relatively low volume will have
customers with different requirements and use different processes from operations which create
standardized services or product with high volume.
The volume-variety characteristics of an operation will affect its planning and control activities.
How do supply and demand affect planning and control?
If planning and control is the process of reconciling demand with supply, then the nature of the
decisions taken to plan and control an operation will depend on both the nature of demand and the
nature of supply in that operation.
Uncertainty in supply and demand
Uncertainty is important in planning and control because it makes it more difficult. Sometimes the
supply of inputs to an operation may be uncertain. In other operations supply is relatively
