Explain Technology Generation. Explain Technology Development. Discuss the importance Technology Generation and Development.

Technology Generation

We will start our discussion with the meaning of ‘technology generation’.

Define the term technology. Write a short note on evolution and growth of technology.

Technology

Technology is derived from the Greek word “technologia” in which "techne" means craft and "logia" means saying. On the whole, technology means having the knowledge of making something.

Evolution and Growth of Technology

The history of technology dates back to the time when humans were able to prepare some simple tools with easily available natural resources. History indicates that the advancement in technology had a major leap with the invention of the wheel. From the invention of the wheel, much usage of the technology has started. The technology in all the fields has grown to a larger extent and now we can see the technology involved in almost all the things we use in our daily life.

We know that there are some advanced technologies at present which include the printing press, telephone and Internet which have helped us to communicate all over the globe.

Till now we have mainly concentrated on technology management in general. Now let us learn about technology management in India.

Explain inventory Management and Control. List the benefits of inventory control. Inventory Management and Control

Due to high costs involved in inventories, proper management and control is considerably vital and the action is always synonymous with material management. Due to the high costs involved in stocking of inventory, a proper management and control is vital and inventory management is in fact, synonymous with material management.

Inventory management (IM) involves the development and administration of policies, systems, and procedures for minimising the total costs. IM also helps in decision making on all related issues such as customer service requirements, production schedule and purchasing. IM stresses on decision making and the need for integrated information flow. Following are the factors which influence inventory management and control.

· Type of product.

· Type of manufacture.

· The volume of production.

Maintaining an optimum level of investment is the most important objective of inventory control. Based on the requirements, organisations use from simple to highly specialised mathematical models of inventory control.

State the objectives of production planning and control. Explain briefly the functions of planning in “Facility Planning” for production activities?

Manufacture planning and control involves the procurement and allocation of limited resources over a specified time horizon to carry out production activities so as to satisfy the demands of the customer. Planning and control problems are characteristically optimisation problems. Here, the objective is to come up with a plan that meets demand at a minimum cost or that fulfills the demand which maximises profit.

The manufacturing planning and control deals with the decisions of utilisation, acquisition, and resources allocation because it is important to satisfy the customer requirements in a cost effective and efficient way. Usually, decisions taken include the level of work force, production lot sizes, assignment of overtime, and sequencing of production runs.

Following are the essential functions/tasks of production planning.

Planning

Production planning is defined as the technique of anticipating every step in a long series of separate operations. It helps the entrepreneur to calculate the quantity of material, manpower, machinery, and capital required for producing a planned level of output in a specified time period.

Routing

The main purpose of routing is to find out the best and cheapest sequence of operations and to make sure that this order is exactly followed. Routing involves the following different activities.

· Evaluating the document to determine what components to make and what components to buy.

· Ascertaining the quality and type of material.

· Establishing the sequence of manufacturing operations.

· Determining lot sizes.

· Finding out the scrap factors.

· Analysing the cost of the article.

· Organising the different production control forms.

Scheduling

This means evaluating the time that would be required to carry out each function and also the time needed to perform the entire series. It is primarily concerned with the time element and priorities of a job. The model of scheduling differs from one job to another which is explained as below:

Production schedule: The main purpose of production schedule is to schedule the amount of work, which can be easily handled by the plant and equipment without any hindrance. It is not an independent decision, as it takes the following factors into account.