ERP Manufacturing

Open Source Manufacturing Resource Planning

Open source Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) provides a complete inventory management system, production functionality, costing functionality, master scheduling and materials requirements planning, capacity planning, work order management, purchase order management, sales order management, shipping and receiving functionality, sales analysis functionality and accounting functionality.  Open source MRP software enables real-time reporting.  For example, with open source MRP you easily see the amount of inventory you have on hand at that moment.  And, open source MRP enables you to track financial activities for accurate cost statements.  All employees can access your open source MRP system from a computer terminal.  Of course, you must supply them with a user name and password. 

Why use open source versus hosted, SaaS, or on-site MRP software?  Well, open source is cheap compared to on-site software.  Open source is less then SaaS and hosted MRP software.  Open source will most likely enable a quicker return on investment.  You can easily customize open source MRP software to integrate with other software.  And, you can change the open source code to fit your processes and procedures.

There are tons of open source MRP offerings on the market today.  One way to decide on a specific open source MRP is to review the different solutions.  You can download a trial version or demo the product.  This way, you can see if you like the look and feel of the software, determine if you find the software user friendly, and see if the software works with your business model.  Reading open source MRP software reviews may be helpful as well.  There are tons of user reviews on the Internet.  Have your employees review the demo or trial version.  Get as much input as possible from functional and technical folks.  Another option is to hire a consulting firm to see if the open source programs you like will work for your company.  Consulting firms can also help you decide how to adapt the open source MRP solution to fit your business needs. 

Look into open source MRP security or have a consulting firm help.  Security is usually very specific to business needs and requires integration with other company run software. Don’t forget that you need to support your open source MRP software.  While open source MRP software can save you money because it does not require annual renewals for the license, it must work for your organization.  Consider whether the open source MRP will meet future company demands for growth.

Written by :

tracey boxer