MRP II/ERP Principles and Applications - (2nd Edition)

Author: Cheng Kong / Ge Yang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) is a production management planning and control model that has been widely adopted in the modern manufacturing industry worldwide as a standard management tool due to its significant benefits. MRP II achieves the integration of logistics and financial flow information and is an important component of Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems (CIMS), as well as the core of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). It is an effective tool for solving enterprise management problems and improving operational efficiency. This book comprehensively covers the basic principles, processing logic, algorithm flow, software systems, and application implementation methods of MRP II/ERP. The content is comprehensive, systematic, and logically structured, with detailed explanations of principles and algorithms, accompanied by examples and exercises to facilitate learning. This book can serve as a specialized textbook for management engineering, industrial engineering, e-commerce, information systems, computer applications, and other related disciplines in higher education institutions. It can also be used as a teaching material for professional training programs, accountancy associations, production management associations, and other continuing education initiatives. Additionally, it is suitable for technical personnel, production managers, and management decision-makers in the manufacturing and IT industries for learning and reference.
[Preface]
1. Introduction to MRP II/ERP
MRP II (Manufacturing Resource Planning) is an advanced modern enterprise management model aimed at rationally allocating a company's manufacturing resources, including financial, material, production, supply, and sales factors, to maximize their efficiency and gain competitive advantages in the fierce market, thereby achieving optimal economic benefits. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems expand the scope of management based on MRP II, organically integrating internal and external resources of the enterprise, reflecting the supply chain management philosophy of meeting market demands, optimizing the use of comprehensive enterprise resources, and manufacturing in a timely manner. Due to its significant benefits, MRP II has been widely adopted as a standard management tool in the modern manufacturing industry worldwide. It is an effective tool for solving enterprise planning management problems and improving operational efficiency. MRP II is also a core component of ERP, forming an integrated relationship where MRP II's management techniques are more fundamental and practical. Therefore, in this book, we present MRP II/ERP as a unified system, emphasizing MRP II in the explanation of principles but focusing on ERP for extended functionalities.
MRP II/ERP falls under the discipline of production management and is a subsystem of the CIMS/863 project. Its benefits are significant and direct, and it has recently been adopted by some large and medium-sized enterprises. However, due to the lack of theoretical guidance, its practical success rate has been widely questioned. From an industrial practice perspective, the basic principles of MRP II/ERP are particularly fundamental, necessary, and critical in enterprise informatization projects. Mastering the principles of MRP II can be considered a bottleneck in learning and applying ERP. In fact, the discipline of ERP has developed a rich, comprehensive (or rigorous) theoretical system, and commercial ERP software even covers a broad range of enterprise management interfaces, including production manufacturing, supply chain, financial control, and human resource management.
The content related to MRP II/ERP is scattered across textbooks in college courses such as "Production and Operations Management," "Production System Planning and Control," and "Management Information Systems," but the coverage of this specialized technology is relatively limited. Therefore, it is timely and necessary to introduce a dedicated course on this theoretical system. Since its publication, this book has received high praise and has been adopted as a textbook for undergraduate and MBA programs by many key universities. It has also been selected by numerous consulting firms as a training material, yielding significant social benefits. The second edition is now revised to provide a theoretical reference for readers in enterprise informatization practices, aiming to achieve greater success. This book can also be seen as a summary of the authors' research and learning in this field over the past decade.
2. Main Content of the Book
In Chapter 1, we first provide a general introduction to various advanced manufacturing management models in the manufacturing industry and preliminarily analyze their development trends and the system architecture of advanced manufacturing technologies, giving readers a comprehensive understanding of the scope and significance of MRP II/ERP. Then, in Chapter 2, we introduce the operational principles and management planning of industrial production, offering a practical understanding of the application environment and management foundations of MRP II/ERP.
Starting from Chapter 3, we begin to explore the fundamental principles of MRP II/ERP, including its development stages, MRP II's three winning strategies related to demand, time segmentation, and capacity balancing, as well as the planning hierarchy, data environment, operational principles, usage environment, and characteristics of the MRP II management model. These are foundational for understanding the specific principle modules that follow. Chapters 4 to 10 provide a detailed analysis of the specific principles of MRP II/ERP, covering seven chapters: Production Planning, Master Production Schedule, Material Requirements Planning, Capacity Requirements Planning, Material Management Control, Production Operation Control, and Production Cost Management. These chapters are the core of the book.
Chapter 11 discusses the operational models of MRP II/ERP, exploring implementation models and problem-solving approaches during application. Chapter 12 introduces the software systems of MRP II/ERP, providing a concise overview of software modules and existing commercial software systems. Chapter 13 addresses the implementation issues of MRP II/ERP, introducing an application implementation methodology based on the authors' practical experience and rational thinking, analyzing and explaining system planning, software selection, project implementation processes, project evaluation, and business process reengineering.
The final chapter (Chapter 14) covers several practical and developmental issues of MRP II/ERP, highlighting its foundational role and practical significance as an important component of the CIMS project. From Chapter 1 to the final Chapter 14, following logical reasoning and the learning process, the content is highly interconnected, forming a systematic knowledge framework. The book focuses on explaining the basic operational principles of MRP II/ERP, systematically introducing control techniques for enterprise production planning management, and thoroughly analyzing and theoretically deriving the basic principles, processing logic, and algorithm flow of MRP II/ERP.
Considering the varying levels of readers' understanding and the need for intuitive and comparative learning, some mathematical derivations in the MRP II principles are included in the book, such as the mathematical matrix derivation of material requirements. However, these derivations are marked with an asterisk () and can be skipped without affecting the understanding of the MRP II/ERP principle system. If readers already have some familiarity with MRP II/ERP and wish to directly explore the core principles, they can read Chapters 3 to 11. If readers are only interested in the application aspects of MRP II/ERP, they can skip the detailed analysis of MRP II/ERP principle algorithms and directly read Chapters 1 to 3, 12, 13, and 14, which also form a logical system.
3. Target Audience and Supporting Materials
This book can serve as a selected textbook or teaching reference for management, management engineering, information systems, e-commerce, and other related disciplines in higher education institutions. It is also suitable for IT professionals, industrial engineering researchers, and management decision-makers in the manufacturing and IT industries for learning and reference.
Except for Chapter 14, the book is accompanied by ample review and exercise questions, which include conceptual explanations, analytical descriptions, and computational derivation problems. These exercises are designed around the key content of each chapter, covering the main points and helping readers grasp the essential knowledge through solutions.
The electronic teaching materials can be downloaded from the "Download Page" link on http://www.tupwk.com.cn. The reference answers to the exercises can be obtained by filling out the "Reference Answer Request Information Feedback Card" at the back of the book.
We will provide learning guidance and some exercise solutions in dedicated columns on the website http://www.ckong.com. Readers can also engage in bidirectional communication on the website to ask questions and learn together.
During the writing process, we referred to a large number of specialized literature and internal materials from multiple disciplines, but due to space constraints, we could not list them all at the end of the book. We sincerely thank the authors both domestically and internationally for their contributions! Chapters 1 and 11 of this book were written by Professor Jin Wenguang of the Automation Department at Tsinghua University. Professor Ji Guoli from the Automation Department at Xiamen University provided significant guidance during the writing process. Cheng Pingfeng and Pan Hanmin from Xiamen Huiguang Technology Training Center contributed extensively to the organization, layout, and input of materials. We express our gratitude here.
Due to the limited theoretical expertise and practical experience of the authors, there may be inaccuracies or omissions in the book. We welcome criticism and corrections from readers and scholars in the field.