Is the technique known as Materials Resource Planning misunderstood?
Well, in the world of materials and spare parts management for maintenance support I certainly think that it is.
Here is our MRP definition:
Materials Resource Planning (MRP) is a management technique that is used to control the resources and activities required for manufacturing and production control.
The technique coordinates the ordering and sequencing of materials to ensure that manufacturing production can flow with few (or no) stoppages.
A key feature of MRP is the idea of dependent demand. That is, that the need for one item drives the need for another. Say, for example, if we were manufacturing doors we would be able to identify that each door needs two hinges and so plan hinge purchases in line with the door production schedule.
MRP also requires reliable data on the operation of the part delivery supply chain.
What does this have to do with engineering materials and spare parts that are required for maintenance support? Actually, not much. Yet the term MRP has been co-opted by many software developers to mean ‘reviewing your orders and spare parts levels’. This gives users a false sense of security that they are managing their spare parts when in fact what they are doing is administering them.
To apply the MRP concept to spare parts you not only need a complete bill of materials, you need to know exactly which parts will be used and when. Theoretically possible for planned work but unrealistic in the real world where that level of detail just does not exist and a recent survey identified that 40% of spares purchases are unplanned.
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Posted by: Phillip Slater