Production plans that keep the line running.

In practice

• Converted sales requirements into daily and monthly production schedules.
• Balanced model mix, colour sequencing, line capacity, working days, planned shutdowns and overtime.
• Set lot sizes (typically ~200 units, with larger minimums for some models) and fitted them to the line.
• Built the monthly export plan: production plan, packing plan and summary, with automated lot and invoice allocation.
• Functional supervision of four PPC staff.

How it ran

1. DemandModel and colour demand, export orders and working days into a monthly build plan.
2. MaterialsPlanned orders checked against BOMs and MRP output.
3. CapacityLot sizes, sequencing, cycle time and overtime fitted to two frame lines.
4. Execution & closingOrders created, confirmed and tracked; monthly closing fed the next plan.

In practice

• Kept a seven-day forward view of shortages against the build sequence.
• Expedited gaps with Supply Chain, Stores and the Karachi plant.
• Judged recovery against transport lead times: about 1 day by air, 3 days by fast-track logistics and 4 days by container.
• Supported MRP planning for production consumables, so they were planned like standard components.
• Reviewed safety stock across 3,000+ components, identifying ~PKR 50M of inventory that could be released.

How it ran

1. ConsolidateStock, material data, inter-plant information and logistics updates pulled together each day.
2. What is shortCurrent and coming shortages, with SAP status for each.
3. When it hitsProjected balances against the lot and day each part is needed.
4. Will it arriveInbound quantities and ETAs checked; escalate or expedite if not in time.

In practice

• Resolved competing priorities between sales demand, available materials and manufacturing constraints, every day.
• Expedited shortages with Supply Chain, Stores and the Karachi plant.
• Supported a 720-motorcycle export production trial, aligning production, export requirements and dispatch timing.
• Supported six departments as SAP PP super user.
• Moved export box assembly to an outside-processing contractor as part of the packing framework.

How it ran

1. Hear the demandSales and export requirements in.
2. Check the constraintsMaterials, capacity and quality status against that demand.
3. Agree the planTrade-offs settled with the functions affected.
4. Follow throughExpedite, re-sequence and confirm until it ships.

In practice

• Created, changed and confirmed production orders, and ran monthly production closing.
• Reviewed BOMs, routings, work centres and production versions behind every planned order.
• Read MD04 stock/requirements and missing-parts checks before orders reached the line.
• Traced goods issues, consumption and stock to explain variances and shortages; checked material master data.
• Prepared and reviewed planning master data for the move from SAP ECC to S/4HANA.
• Helped build an SAP framework for CKD/SKD export packing: packed and unpacked states, packing materials under MRP, box assembly to an outside-processing contractor.

Where I worked in SAP

1. Production ordersCO01 · CO02 · CO03 · CO11N · COOIS
2. BOMs & routingsCS01 · CS02 · CS03 · CS11 · CA01 · CA02 · C223
3. MRP & availabilityMD04 · MD05
4. Stock & master dataMB51 · MB52 · MIGO · MM01 · MM02 · MM03

In practice

• At Atlas Honda, converted sales requirements into build plans.
• Freelance: split annual dealer targets by model and month, with launch-month rules, into whole-number daily plans.
• Independent rebuild on invented data: pace tracking against plan and monthly dealer reports.
• MSc: moving averages, exponential smoothing, MAPE and forecast bias, intermittent and promotional demand, and what each means for safety stock.

How it ran

1. TargetOne number per dealer for the year.
2. SeasonalityTwelve monthly percentages that always add to 100.
3. Model mixSplit by model, honouring launch timing.
4. Daily planWhole-number daily figures, tracked against actuals.

In practice

• Automated multi-source shortage reporting: ~60 minutes to 5–10 minutes per run.
• Rebuilt the export planning workbook around one input, with a formula chain that allocates lot numbers and error-proofing that flags lot-size mismatches.
• Freelance: an Excel/VBA sales management system for an automotive distributor in Ireland (500+ lines of VBA).
• Freelance: Power Query pipelines, including a ~500 MB file beyond Excel’s worksheet limits.
• Independent rebuilds of two tools as web applications on synthetic and invented data.

How it ran

1. Find the repeatWatch where the same preparation happens every day or month.
2. One inputMove entry into one validated place, with drop-downs and rules.
3. Automate the logicFormulas, VBA or Power Query do the counting and matching.
4. Hand overTest, train the planners and document known limits.