Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II)

Manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) is a comprehensive type of planning for manufacturing companies. It is a sort of extension to the original material requirements planning (MRP) concept. It emerged in the 1980s to help companies deal with dynamic processes. Both of these, MRP and MRP II, are related to the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which is a top-level business information system that helps companies to plan better and work more efficiently.

Manufacturing resource planning may include various software tools as well as support processes. It is an overarching concept for business management. The tools may include master production schedules, advanced invoicing, production resources, inventory tools and more. The support processes may include contract management, shop floor data collection, sales analysis and more.

Through the use of diverse new technologies, companies can adjust how they work to improve productivity and efficiency. Inventory control systems are a good example — by aggregating big data and analyzing them for business intelligence, companies can reduce warehouse inventory levels, to save on maintenance cost. This is just one way that MRP works for businesses; another way involves improving supply chains as well as other parts of the production cycle.