Aggregate plan and master production schedule

If you are studying for a bachelor of engineering, a bachelor's degree in business administration, or a diploma in operations management, So, you study operations management and production planning and control. That includes aggregate planning and master production planning. Aggregate plans are intermediate plans that are used to help in decision-making related to general levels of employment, output, inventories, capacity planning, and resource planning. Aggregate plans are developed knowing the forecasted demand and the company policies to compare the cost of different alternatives. Aggregate plans are developed by two methods, the trial-and-error technique, and the mathematical one. This video illustrates how to do aggregate planning using the first technique. It shows the aggregate planning steps with the aid of solved examples and problems. For the production plan to be translated into meaningful terms for production, it is necessary to disaggregate the aggregate plan. This means breaking down the aggregate plan into specific product requirements in order to determine labor requirements, materials, and inventory requirements. The result of disaggregating the aggregate plan is a master production schedule or simply a master schedule, showing the quantity and timing of specific end items for a scheduled horizon, which often covers about six to eight weeks ahead. The master schedule is the heart of production planning and control. It determines the quantities needed to meet demand from all sources and governs key decisions and activities throughout the organization. The master schedule interfaces with marketing, capacity planning, production planning, and distribution planning. The master schedule also drives the material requirements planning system. Forecasting video:    • Operations management: Demand forecasting