production control

production control

or

process control

the coordination and monitoring of production programmes and targets. Production control involves a number of activities, in particular:

1. minimizing operational variations from production schedules, PROGRESS CHASING and dealing with problems so as to avoid losing output;
2. controlling manufacturing costs by monitoring the use of materials and labour inputs and taking action to avoid wastage where necessary (see COST CONTROL);
3. controlling product quality by inspection to detect defective products and taking action to remedy deficiencies (see QUALITY CONTROL);
4. controlling MACHINE UTILIZATION by monitoring machine usage and avoiding idle time or machine down-time. See also PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, PRODUCTION SCHEDULING, OPTIMIZED PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY, POKE YOKE.

Collins Dictionary of Business, 3rd ed. © 2002, 2005 C Pass, B Lowes, A Pendleton, L Chadwick, D O’Reilly and M Afferson