Standard Work · SOP

Weekly Production Planning & Machine Capacity Alignment Meeting

A structured meeting to review order backlog, align production schedule with actual machine capacity, identify bottlenecks, and finalize the weekly plan to ensure on‑time delivery and lean utilization.

Estimated Time
60 min
Difficulty
Moderate
Regulation
ISO 9001:2015
Version
1.0
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Purpose

The weekly production planning and capacity alignment meeting ensures that production commitments are achievable given available machine hours, labour, and tooling. It prevents over‑promising, reduces expediting, and surfaces capacity constraints before they cause delays. This meeting also aligns maintenance windows with production needs and documents decisions for traceability.

Scope

This procedure applies to the weekly planning meeting attended by the Production Planner, Shift Supervisors, Maintenance Lead, and Operations Manager. It covers all work centres and machines in the facility. The meeting is held every Thursday at 10:00 AM (or as defined by the site schedule) and typically runs 60 minutes.

Safety Precautions
  • DATAEnsure machine status and planned maintenance data are accurate to avoid scheduling production on equipment that is locked out or undergoing repair.
  • FATReview any incident or near‑miss reports from the previous week; do not schedule overtime or shift changes that violate worker fatigue management policies.
  • BOTFlag any schedule that would require a machine to run beyond its rated capacity or without required guarding/interlocks — escalate immediately.
Required Tools & Materials
  • Weekly production agenda template (digital or printed)
  • ERP production schedule / backlog report
  • Machine capacity spreadsheet or dashboards (OEE, cycle times, available hours)
  • Planned maintenance & downtime log
  • Shift schedule & labour availability
  • Whiteboard or digital collaboration tool (e.g. Miro, Teams Whiteboard)

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Procedure: Step-by-Step
1 Review previous week performance. Pull actual production data (output, downtime, quality rejects) and compare against the plan. Note variances and root causes. Identify any carry‑over orders.
2 Check current backlog & customer commitments. Review the order backlog report and identify any orders at risk of missing due dates. Prioritize based on customer urgency and production lead time.
3 Assess machine & work centre capacity. For each work centre, calculate available hours (shift schedule minus planned maintenance). Factor in cycle times, changeover allowances, and OEE targets.
4 Identify bottlenecks & constraints. Compare required production hours against available capacity. Flag overloaded work centres and evaluate options: overtime, subcontracting, or schedule sequencing.
5 Allocate production orders & sequence jobs. Assign orders to specific machines/shifts. Optimize sequence to minimize changeover time. Confirm material availability and required fixtures/tooling.
6 Finalize schedule & communicate. Document the final weekly schedule. Distribute to shift supervisors, maintenance, and logistics. Record decisions, action items, and any schedule risks.

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