Many people think that a production controller's job is just scheduling work orders and chasing progress, but after doing it for a while, you realize that the hardest part has never been the volume of tasks, but that "tasks are never truly separated cleanly."
Recently, our production line started expanding with new lines and also introduced trial production of subsidiary products. It sounded like a big deal at first, and it really has been, but the "big" part isn't just increased capacity—it's that everything exploded at once.
Since I joined, my workload has always been full. I'm not just responsible for mass production scheduling, but an entire line from samples, mass production, rework, packaging, to the new line trial production now—all on me. Paper processes need handling, material status needs tracking, schedules need adjusting, and I have to keep communicating and coordinating between departments. Sometimes it really feels like "why am I the only one?"
My supervisor hasn't ignored this. He's mentioned wanting to find someone to help share the load, like having the rework production controller handle rework or the outsourcing production controller watch part of the line. But production controller work isn't something that can be handed off with just a "help out a bit."
Because a lot of production controller tasks are time-sensitive, some things can't just be postponed to tomorrow. If you don't handle it now, it could lead to material shortages, delays, missed arrangements, or even forgetting about it yourself. Many processes keep coming back to the original person because only they know exactly where things are stuck and what will happen next.
So even if there's talk of dividing work, without clear rules or truly redefining ownership, tasks will still silently flow back to the original person.
Today, while discussing the BOM structure for the subsidiary product, the supervisor invited the outsourcing production controller to the meeting. The other person even asked in confusion: "Don't you need to join too?"
Because the supervisor had mentioned wanting to gradually hand this over, she felt I should also know all the details.
But honestly, in that moment, only one thought popped into my head: "If I have to be involved in this too, I'm really going to die."
It's not that I don't want to know, but what I lack most right now isn't information—it's time.
If the decision has already been made for him to take over, then instead of both of us half-understanding everything together, it's better for him to fully grasp the entire structure, process, and logic. After that, he can be the point of contact while I handle execution and coordination—that's actually meaningful division of labor.
Otherwise, it ends up with me spending time in meetings, understanding, and chasing, but execution still falls on me. The workload doesn't decrease; there's just one more person to be anxious with me.
I've also gradually realized that many supervisors get stuck on the idea that "we're afraid others won't know, so everyone should know together." But the truly efficient way is to "separate responsibilities cleanly"—who owns the point of contact, who handles execution, who does the tracking. Only when that's clear will things stop turning into a mess.
And now I've finally become willing to admit directly that I really can't keep taking on unlimited work. Before, I thought if I just pushed through a bit more or tried harder, it would be fine. But after the new lines, trial production, and subsidiary products all came in at once, I clearly feel that human energy has limits.
Some problems can't be solved by effort alone—they require systems, division of labor, and re-established processes to truly let people survive.
Things are still being worked out, and many areas haven't been fully implemented yet. But at least people are willing to discuss and re-divide the work, which for me already counts as progress.
After all, in the world of production controllers, "someone willing to help" has never been the most important thing. What really matters is whether that help can actually take on the tasks.