MRP is a vital procedure that most manufacturers should run daily. A corporation should anticipate seeing an increase in on-time shipments, more satisfied customers, reduced inventory carrying costs, and fewer inventory shortages with dependable MRP. Here are ten suggestions for achieving successful MRP, whether you use your ERP system, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, or your head: SAP MM assists in planning the material requirements. Get this SAP MM course which gives you an understanding of a company’s numerous procurement and flow of goods activities, allowing you to enhance efficiency, improve quality, and cut costs while remaining adaptable to changes. You’ll learn about invoicing and financial integration, procurement methods, MRP planning strategies, and optimal purchasing, among other things, in this course.
1. Accuracy In The Hand
What proportions of your inventory balances are accurate? Has all of the inventory in your system been approved by quality control? If you can’t depend on your on-hand values, you’ll find it difficult to depend on the data that MRP produces for you. ‘Garbage in, garbage out,’ as the saying goes. Your MRP will plan around the false numbers if you have the wrong quantity on hand. One saving grace would be that your MRP must be able to give you an overview of the material requirements at the very least.
2. Using A Forecast
To assess your demand, most MRP systems will use the greater of open sales orders or forecasts. Our prediction might be a sales or production estimate; in any case, your MRP system will use it to produce your needs. The advantages are twofold: the first is that you can forecast your material requirements farther in advance than the time limit that applies to your sales orders. The second will aid you in both production scheduling and staffing requirements, in addition to materials planning. The prediction does not have to be exact, and you should be able to make changes as needed.
3. Dates!
MRP is determined by the predicted demand’s required dates. Your MRP will advise you to order materials long in advance of when you need them to satisfy the ‘immediate’ demands of your past due to sales orders if you don’t keep up with open sales orders, open purchase orders, or even open production tickets.
4. Lead Times
It is critical to have precise dates in your system for purchase orders and sales orders. Your MRP, on the other hand, should notify you when you require your materials for production. When should you place the purchase order (PO) so that you have 500 pounds of glycol on hand and ready to go? Understanding how long it takes for supplies to arrive from the time you place your order or for your finished product to be made is crucial. Let’s go one step further and include the time it takes your quality control staff to release the material to shipping/production. Many ERP systems would have several fields where you can enter this information, which they will use to recommend when you should place that PO….when you should begin your production order.
5. Audit The Performance Of Your Shipping And Your Vendors
This somewhat goes hand-in-hand with the lead times. Review previous transactions by vendor/item regularly, comparing actual lead vs scheduled times. Take a glance at how well your organization is serving your customers. Consider this information and make adjustments accordingly.
6. Reorder Point Vs. Safety Stock
Understand the distinctions between the two and, more significantly, how your MRP will deal with them. Will your MRP treat safety stock as a hard figure that you can’t fall below, or as a soft number that’s more like a ‘suggested quantity we wouldn’t want to go below, but we’re fine if we do.’ The item level signifying the need for action is known as the reorder point.
7. Formula Yield
Throughout the manufacturing process, many manufacturers have a loss factor. Evaporation, spillage, or the reactivity of specific materials are all potential causes. To get 1,000 lbs of the final product, you need to put in 1,100 lbs of raw materials. Your MRP will leave you short 100 lbs of raw materials if you don’t account for that loss factor.
8. Blanket Orders
Blanket instructions appear to be a good idea in theory. These might offer a unique wrinkle to your MRP. For instance, suppose you notify your vendor that you’ll need 50,000 pounds of sugar in the next 12 months and then enter that information into your system. However, because you don’t have a firm date for every release, you just enter one. The use of that one date may cause MRP’s recommendations to be thrown off. Ensure you comprehend how your MRP accounts for blanket orders if you’re planning to use them.
9. Capacity Limitations
Recognize your work centers’ production limitations. Most MRP systems would generate a recommended production schedule which might or might not account for capacity requirements.
10. Invite More To The Party
Many firms have a frequent practice of putting the full MRP burden on one person. Most of the time, this person does not have the solution or answer to any problems that may arise. To counteract this, take the services of others. Hold a daily meeting with the purchasing team, customer service, production, and quality control, as well as the MRP leader, to examine the MRP report and analyze any potential flaws or modifications that may be required. Allow them to help resolve any concerns because they understand their data. Remember that, while computers are “smart,” the human factor should not be ignored when making decisions.
You must be better equipped to dive into your MRP to get superior, more reliable information that would lead to more timely shipments and a cleaner inventory if you follow these suggestions.
Conclusion:
Thus the top ten planning requirement tips for material management are successfully discussed in this article. We hope this article is interesting and grabbed the attention of the readers.
