Operations Management: An Integrated Approach, 5th Edition

OBJECTIVES OF MRP

The objectives of an MRP system are to determine the quantity and timing of material requirements and to keep priorities updated and valid.

• Determine the quantity and timing of material requirements. Your company uses MRP to determine what to order (it checks the BOM), how much to order (it uses the lot size rule for the specific item), when to place the order (it looks at when the material is needed and backward-schedules to account for lead time), and when to schedule delivery (it schedules the material to arrive just as it is needed).
• Maintain priorities. Your company also uses MRP to keep priorities updated and valid. Requirements change. Customers change order quantities and/or timing. Suppliers deliver late and/or the wrong quantities. Unexpected scrap results from manufacturing. Equipment breaks down and production is delayed. In an ever-changing environment, you use an MRP system to respond to changes in the daily environment, to reorganize priorities, and to keep plans current and viable.

Next, we discuss the inputs needed to run an MRP system.