Recap of production schedule

Production Schedule
Used to plan the tasks and actives for a product, if you create a production schedule from the beginning to end of the project its called a Gantt Chart.
The launch date means when the product is due.
This is normally a constraint due to the short time to create the product.

Recap 
Contains : milestones, contingencies, task names, dates, equipment list

• Its visually effective,
• Time milestones need to be realistic and adaptable 
• the whole team can use the plan 
• don't consider legal and ethical issues

 Gantt Chart advantages 

• Visual representation of when you need tasks done 
• Has clear time frames 

Gantt Chart Disadvantages 

• Doesn't have a lot of description of the actual jobs

The difference between a production schedule and a Gantt chart is that even though they are both project tools one is for the whole project from start to finish and a production schedule would be done a lot more frequently e.g every week.

And advantage of the production schedule would be its interim deadlines, this means it can be adapted and changed due to the circumstances.

A Gantt chart would be completed first and then followed by a production schedule.

Another advantage of a production schedule is that its a team plan and everyone can see what needs to be done and when for.

A disadvantage of a production schedule however would be that tasks are dependant on other tasks meaning that if one isn't done or not done well it can hinder later tasks.

Production schedule example

Mock Question 

Identify one type of project management tool that could be used to keep track of the project tasks and explain why it is suitable for this task.

A project management tool that would be efficient at keeping track of task would be a production schedule, this would be due to it being useable by the whole team involved and allow them to see which tasks will be completed and when. 

Its visual nature of the document means that the task is easy to read and simple to understand this making it a quick tool. 

Its suitable for the road safety brief as the release date is in 4 months time and this short amount of time needs to be planned to ensure the most efficient use to do this the production schedule would be best fitting, ad the schedule is updated weekly this allows room for adaptability and change dependant on the circumstances. 

Along with this document you should also accompany it with a Gantt chart which is similar to a production schedule however it shows tasks from the beginning of production to end this will allow the team to see the bigger picture of all tasks needed to be completed.