Controller's Guide to Planning and Controlling Operations

4

PLANNING AND CONTROL OF MANUFACTURING COSTS: DIRECT MATERIAL AND DIRECT LABOR

GENERAL ASPECTS OF MANUFACTURING

Responsibilities of the Manufacturing Executive

To those not familiar with the intricacies of the modern manufacturing processes, it might seem that once a determination has been made of the products to be manufactured and sold, and of the quantities required, then the remaining task is simple: proceed to manufacture the articles. As compared with the task of the sales executive, many of the variables in manufacturing are more subject to the control of the executive than they are in selling, many are more easily measured, and the psychological factors may be less pronounced. But the job is by no means an easy one, and many difficulties plague the manufacturing manager who is attempting to deliver a quality product, within cost, and on schedule.

Consider some of the numerous decisions the manufacturing executive is called upon to make—in many of which the controller is not involved at all, others with which he may be only tangentially concerned, and yet others where he may be, or should be, of assistance to the production executive. While any number of classifications may be used, these groupings of the duties seem practical:

• Physical Facilities
  • Acquisition of plant and equipment
  • Proper layout of machinery and equipment, storage facilities, and so on
  • Adequate maintenance of plant and equipment
  • Proper safeguarding of the physical assets (security)
• Product and Production ...