MRP in manufacturing stands for material requirements planning or manufacturing resource planning.  Both mean the same thing:  ideally planning what is needed to effectively manufacture a product.  ERP also known as enterprise resource planning is commonly used as well and is a derivative of MRP.  ERP takes into account manufacturing and business processes and merges them into one system.  MIS is a management information system which manages business information.  Data in its raw form is altered into understandable information.  Essentially, ERPs and MRPs are management information systems since they are transforming raw data into information such as in the form of reports, invoices, and understandable information in order to operate a manufacturing environment optimally.

MRP and MRP II

When MRP is referred to as material requirements planning, it refers to a set of computer programs or software that manage inventories and what is needed when, and it tells people on the floor what to make and how much.  The computer system maintains scheduling so that manufacturing stays on schedule and products are delivered on time.  When MRP is referred to as manufacturing resource planning it can also be called MRP II.  This involves a set of principles and is the whole planning system along with the computer system.  Leadership would also be a part of MRP II.   Management cannot be ignored and a business cannot rely entirely on a computer system alone.  

Goals

MRP II’s goal is to keep the manufacturing process as elementary as possible and to take a serious look at the requirements needed to produce the end product.  Careful analysis also have to be done to ensure that no waste is occurring in the production such as through inventory analysis.  A management plan starts with asking what the product is that will be sold to consumers.  The next step is looking at what inventory is needed to produce the product as well as staff needed, equipment, materials, and anything needed for production.  The final step would be to take a look at how everything is functioning and also the management team needs to ensure everyone has the tools they need.

Software for ERP and MRP

Software solutions for ERP and MRP allow for keeping track of inventories in a manufacturing environment as well as purchasing and manufacturing controls and communications with people on the fabrication floor so that everything is streamlined between all departments of a company.  Additional tools involve invoice production, customer service, and tools to analyze sales.  Financial options are available to offer a full software package for a manufacturing environment.  A useful aspect of a software application featured in one MRP software package is the ability for multiple users to enter purchase orders at the same time on computers in a networked environment as long as that environment was constructed with servers built for multiple users, such as from Nowell and Microsoft.  A software system should additionally be able to produce reports depending on what data is needed. Computer MRP systems keep all the data up to date.  Another feature would be capacity planning where a software product would tell the user what resources would be needed to finish a job based on a production plan such as manpower and equipment.  This would also be called rough-cut capacity planning.

Benefits of MRP Systems

Advantages of using a computerized MRP system would be lowering of costs and inventories, better efficiency in the shop, a shorter production time, lower expenses of materials and overhead, and thus better service to customers and timely shipping to consumers.  MRP and MRP II would be useful for a manufacturing environment as well as any type of business environment to improve efficiency and business as a whole.

Reto Hug is President of Maloya which focuses on <A href=”http://www.maloyalaser.com”>laser cutting technologies</a> and complex metal manufacturing using <A href=”http://www.maloyalaser.com/index.php”>advanced laser technologies</a> for aerospace, scientific, transportation, medical and machinery needs.