Integration of MRP II and Material Flow Management Systems

Abstract

Nowadays, Environmental Management Information Systems are not integrated into business information systems, in particular ERP-Systems. The transition to a completed integration is neither done nor on the horizon. On the first view, this is somehow astonishing. A closer look at the basic data of Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) and material flow management, for example, shows that there are quite clear similarities in data structures. In principle, bills of materials, operation plans and production orders contain exactly the data, which are useful for the design of material flow networks. Material transformations are represented through operation plans and input/output equations can be derived from bills of materials. And indeed it is possible in practice to generate material flow networks from MRP II data. Therefore, in this paper current approaches for the integration of material flow management systems and manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) and control will be presented.