Production Controlling

Challenges

Production controlling combines two areas of responsibility - production and controlling. The main task of production is the manufacturing of products and the associated value creation. The main focus is on reliable production planning and control, ensuring the availability of resources and the continuous optimisation of production facilities and processes. Controlling provides the necessary transparency for these tasks and helps to achieve an overall optimum.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are the main instrument of production controlling. They not only serve to objectify subjective issues, but also enable a transparent presentation of the actual conditions. Furthermore, trends and tendencies can be identified and displayed using KPIs. To generate meaningful results, the KPIs used must meet the following requirements:

• exact definition,
• actual data,
• economically determinable,
• the existence of a credible data basis and a low interpretation effort, and
• clarification (not pretence) of issues.

Currently, there is a continuing trend towards the development and implementation of more and more key figures and indicators. The result is countless KPIs, which can be found in the literature and in practice. However, the meaning, necessity, and correct application of the individual indicators are often unclear.

How can suitable KPIs be identified and successfully implemented? Fraunhofer IML supports and guides you in the step-by-step development/selection and implementation of new KPIs.

Our procedure model

The Fraunhofer IML procedure model consists of five steps. First, the internal customer (the decision maker) is determined. Based on his needs, all information necessary for decision making are identified. In the next step, the presentation form of the KPIs is specified. This has an influence on the final selection of the KPIs, since not every indicator is suitable for a particular form of presentation. Based on the identified requirements and the existing definitions of individual KPIs, a corresponding selection of the appropriate indicators can be made. In the last step, the necessary data collection and the methods of analysis are specified.