GlossaryKind of term: Manufacturing termProcess plan
What is a process plan?
A process plan records per part how it will be made: stock, setups, operations, tooling, subcontracted steps and inspection points.
It gives the stock as bar or block size, the routing across machines and subcontractors, each setup with its workholding and work origin, the operations per setup in order, subcontracted steps such as anodising or hardening, and for each inspection point the instrument used. It also records the reasons: why two setups, why this side first. Usage varies; some shops mean only the routing when they say process plan.
How does a process plan work in practice?
The process plan feeds almost every line of an estimate: the stock the material line, the setups the setup time, the operations the machining time, the subcontracted steps the finishing lines. For a quote it is usually a plan in outline; the full plan with tools and inspection points often follows only after the order. If the work on the floor runs differently from the plan the estimate was built on, the actual job cost no longer lines up with the estimate. A stored process plan is a good starting point for a repeat order, provided it still fits the current machines and drawing revision.
What is a process plan often confused with?
A process plan is not a routing: the routing in the ERP lists steps with machines and times, the process plan adds setups, tools, inspection points and the reasoning. Nor is it a setup sheet, which describes per setup what the operator needs at the machine. And it is not an NC program, which drives one machine, usually for one setup.
How do you see a process plan in Blake?
Blake holds the parts of the process plan that carry the price: the setups you enter and accept yourself per route, the machines from your machine park with their own hourly rates, and subcontracted operations as lines of their own from your subcontract library, where a missing price stays open. A repeat part is compared with its last priced calculation. More on the factory.
Frequently asked questions
Does the process plan need to be finished before the quote?
Not in detail, but in outline: stock, machine, number of setups and subcontracted steps. The price rests on that. The full plan with tools and inspection points often follows the order; record which assumptions the quote makes.
Where do you start a process plan?
At the drawing: tight dimensions, datums and finishing. Then decide which dimensions have to come together in the final setup and reason back from there to the stock. Machine and workholding follow from those choices.