Production management: A two-dimensional function?

Production management is a complex activity which takes place either formally or informally in all manufacturing organisations. However, despite its importance, the term production management has never been adequately defined. This article attempts to rectify this by examining some of the fundamental principles of the organisation. From these a possible definition of production management is developed. An abstract hierarchical model of production management is presented. It is argued that this model is a generalised representation of any production management system. The implications of both the model and proposed definition are then examined.