Materials Requirement Planning (MRP)

Overview

This module measures the demand for materials in the Estimates (BoMs) of MRP-linked Transactions, that are in an Active status, against stock availability. All quantities in this module are converted to the Item's Base Unit.

The MRP module can be added to the menus by selecting Module = Fixed and then selecting Materials Requirement Planning (MRP)

Note: This module is used to manage the demand for Materials used in the BoM of Finished Goods products - it does not look at Components that need to be manufactured and it does not yet support a reseller (Buy-and-sell) model.

Setting up a Transaction type for MRP

Create a Sales Forecast (SF) transaction which links to Customers, does not use Versions and uses Selling Price. The Sales Forecast transaction must not Reserve or Issue inventory. Add the Sales Forecast Transactions as follows:

• Create a new SF, select a Customer and add the Finished Goods products to the transaction. 

• Set the Transaction Date (or Due Date) to the projected manufacturing date when materials will be required and convert the Items to Estimates. Where applicable, you can expand the Estimate to include all the Materials in the downstream BoMs.

• The SF transactions can be completed with a copy to Sales Orders or Work Orders or they can be manually completed when they are no longer required. 

Checking the Materials Requirement by Date

This functionality is useful for procurement planning based on your Material Requirements in future periods.

Select a Transaction and enter a Date period based on the Transaction or Due Date.

All the materials, excluding Custom Materials, that are required on the selected Transaction will be displayed in the gridview below. Columns include: 

• Material - The Item Description

• Code

• Unit

• Demand - The total quantity required

• In Stock

• On Order

• On Order (Due) - Quantity on Order with a Due Date before or on the selected Start Date. See the Setting that defines the Purchase Order Module below.

• Reserved

• Available - Calculated as follows: InStock - Reserve + On Order (Due)

• % - The percentage of the Demand that can be met.

• Required - Quantity required to meet the demand

• Unit - The base unit of the Item

• Lead Days - The min and max lead days linked to Suppliers of the Material - eg. 3-14days

Right-click a Material to open the context menu: 

• View Demand by Transaction - opens a list of Transactions that require the Material.

• View Purchase Orders - opens a list of Purchase Orders that comprise the On Order quantity.

Checking the Materials Requirement of a transaction, eg. a Work Order

This functionality is useful for checking the quantity that can be produced, based on available Stock. If the Transaction that is being checked Reserves Stock, it will be deducted from the Reserve count.

• Select a Transaction and enter a No.

• The Output items (Transaction Item/s) will be displayed in the top gridview, including the [Transaction] Qty and the Possible Qty. The Available Qty is based on the lowest available percentage of the required materials.

• Select an item and click Actions (button) > Update [Transaction] Qty to update the transaction to the Available Qty.

NB. When you're on a MRP-enabled Transaction (See settings below), you can use Actions (Button) > Check Material Requirements to open the MRP module for the selected transaction.

Data filter

Filters include: 

• Transaction - Select from a list of Transactions linked to MRP - See settings below

• No. - Enter a Transaction number to view the material requirements on a single transaction, regardless of the Transaction Status.

• Date - Select Transaction or Due Date and then select a date period or enter a custom date period. When a Transaction No. is entered, the Date filter is disabled.

Settings

Transactions > Default: Use for Material Requirements Planning (MRP) - Identifies the transactions used to check material requirements.

Transactions > Default: Purchase Order - Used to identify the Transaction/s used to Purchase Materials.

Settings > Roles > Material Requirements Planning (MRP) - Access Allowed - (Default = None) - Full Access is required to execute the Actions in the MRP module.