Lean MRP: Establishing a Manufacturing Pull System for Shop Floor Execution Using ERP or APS

Lean MRP explains how to establish ERP production scheduling that is stable and effective. The fundamental roles of the production schedule for driving shop floor work, predicting manufacturing completions, and evaluating factory capacity are examined. With effective ERP production scheduling in place, an opportunity is created to implement a Lean manufacturing pull system on the shop floor that mimics the behavior of traditional kanbans. This essentially establishes a self-regulating traffic control system that will reduce congestion and travel times for materials and products in a factory. This is not the usual “yada-yada”. The concept of Lean MRP is a novel one, which holds the promise of transformational change particularly in job shop environments. In addition to attaining the on-time performance, inventory, and lead time benefits of a pull system, Lean MRP can also help improve the accuracy of forward-looking schedule projections to support the making of reliable promises to the customer.This book is for those manufacturing managers who have always strived for a Lean operation but nevertheless feel that a computerized ERP system offers a more practical and scalable solution for managing a large, complex, and/or turbulent shop floor. Manufacturers in high mix industries such as contract manufacturing, aerospace, or industrial equipment can particularly benefit from this novel and innovative approach. For them, the prospects of Lean MRP offer an exciting opportunity to positively and comprehensively transform the whole of their operation as opposed to accepting isolated islands of Lean improvement that only skirt the periphery of the scheduling, on-time performance, inventory, and lead time challenges they face.