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Work schedule

In production & craftsmanship, a work schedule plan is usually drawn up individually by the skilled worker or trainee on the basis of the technical drawing. Read more below.
  • Author: Siva
  • Last updated: May 10, 2022
  • 2 Minutes
work schedule at a production line

Work schedule or Work plan definition

The work plan, also known as a production plan, is an important tool in workplace-oriented manufacturing and specifies the resources and work steps required for the production of a product or service. It helps to stay better organized, to divide a project into several small tasks, and to define the work steps accordingly better.

A distinction is made between:

  • Production plan: This is a business plan after the manufacturing and working process has to be carried out.
  • Work schedule: In production and craftsmanship, this plan is usually drawn up individually by the skilled worker or trainee on the basis of the technical drawing. It determines the operations and their order for the manufacture of a finished product, item, or assembly. Outside of production and craftsmanship, the work plan is also used colloquially as a synonym for the roster.

In general, it describes the flow of a product from the raw material to the various operations in production to the finished product. The individual operations are specified in several details, such as the activities, and extended with information from the organization. This can be information about makeready times, production cost points, unit times, but also required work materials and materials, special tools, or devices.

The schedule plan, together with the BOM (bill of material) and the drawing, forms the basis of production control and planning and is also an important tool for:

  • Preparation of working documents and document postings
  • Capacity planning and scheduling
  • Processing in production and assembly
  • The remuneration of piecework wages
  • The pre-calculation and costing of the finished products
  • The determination of production costs and production time for controlling

But what should such a plan include?

  1. Product to be manufactured
  2. Material
  3. Operations on how the product is manufactured
  4. Workplace determination
  5. Tools
  6. Production time

Work plan in practice

In practice, the creation and use of a work plan is becoming more and more important in all different industries such as cleaning, administration, restaurant, agriculture.

You can create and print a work plan with programs like OpenOffice, Office, or Excel. Software such as SAP or Papershift’s innovative cloud software is also ideal for creating these plans, e.g. for project work. Legally, the works council must approve the work plan. Information on how to write a work plan correctly or which pages put the right software online can be found on the Internet.

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Photo by carlos aranda on Unsplash

Written by Siva

I write & describe the value & benefits delivered by Paperhift's rota planning, staff time tracking, and employee payroll management software. Especially useful for Shift Planners, Rota Managers, Team Admins, and HR Teams :-)