Objectives of Master Production Schedule (MPS)
1. Keeping the inventories at the desired level by making perfect use of the resources that are available with the company.

2. Setting up due dates for the availability of the end items and also providing the required information regarding resources and also the materials – which act as the supporting pillars of the aggregate planning.

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A Master Production Schedule is a Schedule of the completions of the end items and these completions are very much planned in nature. Master production schedule acts as a very distinct and important linkage between the planning processes. With the help of this schedule, one can know the requirements for the individual end items by date and quantity. In companies, MPS are generally produced in order to know the number of each product that is to be made over some planning horizon. This schedule forms a very unique part of the company’s sales program which deals with the planned response to the demands of the market.

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Production planning is an activity that is performed before the actual production process takes place. It involves determining the schedule of production, sequence of operations, economic batch quantities, and also the dispatching priorities for sequencing of jobs.

Production control is mainly involved in implementing production schedules and is the corollary to short-term production planning or scheduling. Production control includes initiating production, dispatching items, progressing and then finally reporting back to production planning. In general terms, production planning means planning of the work to be done later and production control refers to working out or the implementation of the plan.
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Plant layout is a mechanism which involves knowledge of the space requirements for the facilities and also involves their proper arrangement so that continuous and steady movement of the production cycle takes place.

Moore, a very well known name in the business world, explained plant layout as,” The plan of or the act of planning, an optimum arrangement of facilities, including personnel, operating equipment, storage space, materials handling equipment and all other supporting services along with the design of the best structure to accommodate these facilities”.
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Units concerning both manufacturing as well as the assembling of the products are on a very large scale affected by the decisions involving the location of the plant. Location of the plant itself becomes a very important factor concerning service facilities, as the plant location decisions are strategic and long-term in nature.

Plant location decisions need detailed analysis because:
1. Wrong plant location generally affects cost parameters i.e. poor location can act as a continuous stimulus of higher cost. Marketing, transportation, quality, customer satisfaction are some of the other factors which are greatly influenced by the plant location decisions – hence these decisions require in-depth analysis.

2. Once a plant is set up at a location which is not much suitable, it is a very disturbing as well as very expensive process to shift works of a company to some other place, as it would largely affect the cycle of production.
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