The production planning puzzle explained

Our chamber projects start with engineering and end with installation and testing. If one of the two changes in planning, André Oostdam, responsible for production, feels the pain. How does he guarantee deadline promises to clients?

André: “The production stage is right between engineering and installation. First, the engineering stage can exceed the deadline if the design is very complex or the client needs more time to approve the design. The installation stage, on the other hand, is mostly booked at the start of the engineering stage. Our clients ask for an operation date when a new chamber must be operational. That means I have to make sure there is a concept planning for all the parts, sometimes from more than 20 different suppliers. Then, I always make a detailed backwards planning from the delivery date, which you can see in the photo.”

Do major changes in the planning give you a headache? André: “Not really; I have been doing this for many years, and I know where potential pitfalls may occur. Take the buildings in which we must install the chambers. Clients tend to have flexible installation planning for buildings that are to be constructed since many factors influence the end date of a new building. This means my planning needs a certain amount of flexibility.”

How do you achieve that? André: “In my years at Comtest, I have created more flexible plannings with colour codings, so everybody involved can see what happens to their partial planning if deadlines are postponed. Especially when planning the installation crew, flexible planning can be difficult. We need to book flights, hotels, and local equipment, and the guys need to arrange their absence with their families. And that is something I respect a lot. It’s up to me and our team to keep the planning clear and the people happy.”