Companies such as Toyota have achieved significant competitive advantage by treating product production as a system that can be planned and optimized. Software product line organizations can achieve similar advantage when they explicitly coordinate the actions of core asset and product developers. We describe a technique for planning the production system for a software product line organization. The technique encompasses a production strategy, which relates the production goals of the product line to the method of core asset and product development; and a production method, which coordinates the development of core assets with the production of products. The results of the technique are documented in a production plan, which guides the product developers through the steps of production. Data gathered from representatives of SPLC Product Line Hall of Fame [1] members and our experience working with product line organizations are used to illustrate problems and specify solutions.