MRP ERP Revisited

Material Resource Planning (MRP) is akin to Enterprise resource Planning (ERP). But it deals more with supporting the needs of manufacturing. It’s about the manufacturing supply chain and materials requirements. This involves such things as labor loads, shop floor planning and machine scheduling. With proper materials resource planning, all tasks are better coordinated and cost calculations for machine use, labor and materials are designated. This is an important module on the manufacturing platform, as it can shorten the time of order deliveries and do away with the inefficiencies of the production process. MRP ERP assures the success of the project.

The manufacturing is similar to that of construction, when you consider the requirements of getting the job done. They both need inventory, supplies and equipment in order to proceed successfully. And the supply chain has to be filled before the production schedule begins. That’s why materials management is so important and requires good project management. If all of the requisite materials are not in-house before the job starts, just-in-time deliveries should be in place. Good materials management can help to assure that customers are satisfied and in the end, it’s customer relationship management that will determine your success.

The efficiency of materials management speaks to the ability to maintain the right amount of inventory and supplies at all times. If a manufacturing project is to succeed on schedule, all of the required materials must be in place precisely at the time they are needed. Otherwise, the production schedule is compromised and the project can fall behind its completion date. If MRP ERP is working hand in hand, that shouldn't be the case.

A good project manager will know far in advance, the materials required for production and will have made arrangements for their delivery and warehousing in time for production. Quit often, there are problems with having the right quantity of a certain item or material on hand. An application module for MRP should ensure that this doesn’t take place. Purchasing and procurement must be done in advance and materials should always be in place before production. And those materials which are needed at certain intervals of production must be there on time.

The bottom line is you can’t get the job done if you don’t have the materials required in place to do. If you’re working with the right software package, that should be no problem. MRP ERP will ensure that you are working smart.