Production Manager Training

Lesson 1 • Types of Production Environments

Compares discrete, process, and hybrid manufacturing environments. Helps learners identify which principles apply to their specific operational context.

Lesson 2 • Role and Scope of a Production Manager

Defines the production manager's authority, accountability, and daily responsibilities. Establishes the baseline understanding needed for all subsequent chapters.

Lesson 3 • Production Systems and Terminology

Introduces fundamental production concepts: inputs, outputs, throughput, and cycle time. Provides shared vocabulary used throughout the entire course.

Lesson 4 • Key Metrics and Performance Indicators

Introduces OEE, yield, scrap rate, and on-time delivery as foundational KPIs. Connects measurement to management decision-making from day one.

Lesson 1 • Demand Forecasting for Production

Covers qualitative and quantitative forecasting methods and their accuracy trade-offs. Accurate demand input is the prerequisite for all planning activities in this chapter.

Lesson 2 • Managing Schedule Disruptions

Provides tools for replanning when machine breakdowns, material shortages, or demand spikes occur. Builds resilience into the scheduling process established earlier.

Lesson 3 • Capacity Planning and Analysis

Introduces rough-cut and detailed capacity planning to identify bottlenecks before scheduling. Prevents overloading work centres and missed delivery commitments.

Lesson 4 • Job Sequencing and Shop Floor Scheduling

Applies sequencing rules (SPT, EDD, FIFO) to minimise tardiness and maximise throughput. Directly translates the MPS into actionable work orders on the floor.

Lesson 1 • Material Requirements Planning (MRP)

Explains how MRP explodes the MPS through the bill of materials to generate purchase and production orders. Connects planning outputs from Chapter 2 to material execution.

Lesson 2 • Supplier Management and Procurement

Covers supplier selection criteria, purchase order management, and performance monitoring. Reliable supply is essential to executing the production schedule without disruption.

Lesson 3 • Inventory Classification and Control

Uses ABC and XYZ analysis to prioritise inventory management effort. Builds the analytical foundation for all subsequent inventory decisions in this chapter.

Lesson 4 • Reorder Point and Safety Stock Calculation

Teaches statistical methods for setting reorder points and safety stock levels. Balances service level targets against carrying cost to optimise inventory investment.

Lesson 1 • Quality Systems and Standards Overview

Introduces quality management system frameworks, their structure, and certification requirements. Provides the governance context within which all quality tools in this chapter operate.

Lesson 2 • Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Action

Applies 8D, 5-Why, and fishbone tools to identify and eliminate defect root causes. Corrective actions close the loop on nonconformances found through SPC and audits.

Lesson 3 • Nonconformance and Supplier Quality Management

Establishes processes for handling rejected material, issuing supplier corrective action requests, and tracking resolution. Connects internal quality control to the supply chain managed in Chapter 3.

Lesson 4 • Statistical Process Control (SPC)

Teaches control chart construction and interpretation to distinguish common from special cause variation. SPC is the primary real-time quality monitoring tool on the production floor.

Lesson 1 • 5S Workplace Organisation

Covers Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardise, and Sustain to create a safe, organised workplace. 5S is the foundational discipline that enables all other lean tools to function reliably.

Lesson 2 • Flow, Pull, and Kanban Systems

Implements one-piece flow, pull systems, and kanban cards to synchronise production with actual demand. Directly reduces the overproduction and excess inventory wastes identified earlier.

Lesson 3 • Lean Principles and the Eight Wastes

Introduces the Toyota Production System philosophy and the eight categories of waste (DOWNTIME). Provides the conceptual lens applied in every subsequent lean tool section.

Lesson 4 • Value Stream Mapping

Teaches current-state and future-state VSM to visualise and redesign material and information flow. VSM is the diagnostic tool that guides all improvement priorities in this chapter.

Lesson 1 • Maintenance Strategy Fundamentals

Compares reactive, preventive, predictive, and reliability-centred maintenance strategies. Selecting the right strategy for each asset is the foundation of all maintenance planning.

Lesson 2 • Maintenance KPIs and Continuous Improvement

Tracks MTBF, MTTR, and PM compliance to evaluate and improve maintenance programme effectiveness. Connects maintenance performance back to the OEE metric introduced in Chapter 1.

Lesson 3 • Predictive Maintenance and Condition Monitoring

Applies vibration analysis, thermography, and oil analysis to detect failures before they occur. Predictive techniques extend PM intervals and reduce unnecessary part replacements.

Lesson 4 • Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

Introduces the eight pillars of TPM and the operator-led autonomous maintenance model. TPM integrates maintenance into daily production routines to prevent the losses tracked by OEE.

Lesson 1 • Safety Culture and Leadership Behaviours

Defines the production manager's role in modelling and reinforcing safe behaviours daily. Safety culture is the human foundation upon which all technical safety systems depend.

Lesson 2 • Incident Investigation and Reporting

Teaches a structured incident investigation process to find root causes and prevent recurrence. Effective investigation closes the loop between hazard identification and corrective action.

Lesson 3 • Regulatory Compliance and Audit Readiness

Prepares the production manager to maintain compliance documentation and pass regulatory inspections. Audit readiness is the practical outcome of all safety and environmental systems in this chapter.

Lesson 4 • Environmental Management in Production

Covers waste classification, emissions monitoring, and spill prevention to meet environmental obligations. Environmental compliance protects the organisation from regulatory penalties and reputational risk.

Lesson 1 • Leading Change in Production Operations

Uses structured change management frameworks to implement process improvements with minimal resistance. Effective change leadership sustains the lean and quality gains achieved in Chapters 4 and 5.

Lesson 2 • Coaching and Developing Production Supervisors

Provides coaching models and development planning tools for front-line supervisor growth. Strong supervisors multiply the production manager's impact across all shifts and work areas.

Lesson 3 • Shift Handover and Communication Systems

Designs structured shift handover processes and visual communication boards to maintain operational continuity. Reliable information transfer prevents the schedule disruptions addressed in Chapter 2.

Lesson 4 • Setting Expectations and Accountability

Establishes how to define clear performance standards and hold team members accountable consistently. Accountability structures are the human complement to the KPI systems built in earlier chapters.