Planning Procedures for a Process Industry

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the application of planning procedures for a process industry. The procedures deal with the determination of (i) optimal production rates and workforce requirements based on future sales forecasts, (ii) optimal capacity of a plant based on the above optimal production rates, (iii) optimal times for expanding capacities, and (iv) total required investment outlay. The optimal production rates and workforce requirements are established by a modified version of Holt's et al. linear decision rule. The methodology is illustrated by using cost, production, inventory and investment data supplied by a domestic paint industry