Material Requirements Planning (MRP) Software

Overview

MRP (material requirements planning) systems help automate the front end of the production process through integrated manufacturing solutions. Once sales orders have been received, manufacturers need to begin analyzing current resources and planning out the different production steps. Repetitive, simple processes likely will not require a robust planning system, but more complex, order-driven jobs can often require extensive sales forecasts and other planning data before production can begin. 

MRP software solutions automate the planning and costing of materials, labor, and equipment. Systems provide inventory status records to help manufacturers account for inventory already in stock, items that need to be purchased or acquired from subcontractors, and how long it will take to receive each item. Automated quoting and order processing can help optimize the production schedule and prevent delays due to material shortages. 

In planning labor and equipment utilization, manufacturing planning software will consider product manufacturing restraints, labor and machine standards, the necessary internal routing of materials, quality assurance testing periods, and "what-if" scenarios. This will help prevent bottlenecks and ensure an efficient, streamlined production process, minimizing waste and maximizing productivity. 

In discrete manufacturing software, the output of an MRP system is a bill of materials (BOM) and a master production schedule. In process manufacturing software the end product is formula or recipe. Manufacturing schedules are generated by either finite capacity or infinite capacity scheduling systems. Finite capacity planning programs take into account limited resources and constraints to produce realistic master schedules and optimized inventory control plans. These items will then be used by managers to initiate the production process. 

MRP software is typically offered as a module within greater manufacturing software systems or ERP systems like Dynamics AX, a Microsoft ERP software option. It is commonly integrated with CRM software and MES systems. Production planning and scheduling systems are often referred to as MRP systems. However, formal MRP systems include both CRM and production planning software. Material resource planning (MRP II or MRP2) software takes this one step further by integrating accounting software modules as well, helping organizations monitor their general ledgers.

Important Considerations

• Will you need job shop software to support make to order production, or does your production run on make to stock schedules? This will determine how the software judges when inventory has reached a necessary re-order point (ROP) to match the economic order quantity (EOQ).
• How much on-site implementation assistance, training, and after-sales support will your managers require?
• Can the system handle the purchasing and invoicing of heterogeneous supply types, like raw materials, sub-assemblies, and completed assemblies?