IET 317 Just In Time/Lean Systems
Fall 2012
Sam Stapelton
Team Paper on Material Requirement Planning
October 1st 2012
October 12th 2012
Group 4
Team Leader: Drew Kelly
Vickie Pennington
Brandon White
Eric Kazee
Material Requirements Planning (MRP) is an inventory control system that is used to
manage the manufacturing process. A MRP system must meet three requirements it must first
guarantee inventory in place in order to use. Next it must also keep a minimal level of standing
inventory. While finally, providing a plan for production to keep waste and time spent between
processes low. The ideas of a MRP although apply to but are not limited to a manufacturing
setting. These ideas can be incorporated into other fields as well. One such a place is the
machining lab located in Lloyd Cassidy building on the MSU main campus. Several classes
offered by the AET department us this laboratory despite this the lab is somewhat unorganized.
This lab has broken tools missing raw materials and machines that do not operate at full
potential. Using the MRP system would be of great benefit.
Not all MRP systems have to be software based in this case a hand done one would work.
First take a complete and thorough listing or the inventory tools, materials, and machines. Then
when a piece of material is used or a tool is broken and needs replaced this is recorded and once
so many need replaced they are replenished. An example of managing materials could be shown
by using a MRP record. You have ten 3/4 in. stainless steel hex stock (projected available
balance) and you have thirteen students that have to use one piece each (gross requirements).
You know you do not have enough so you have five pieces on order to start with (scheduled
receipts). At the end of the semester you order a replacement pieces equal to the number of
students you had (planned order releases). Follow this process over every semester (Period).
Period
Period
Period
Period
1
2
3
4
Gross
Requirem
ents
13
12
14
9
Schedule
d Receipts
5
0
0
0
2
(15-12=) 3 (15-14=) 1 (15-9=) 6
PAB
Planned
Order
Release
10
13
12
14
Material Requirements Planning (MRP) will be utilized by Applied Engineering and
Technology (AET) Department at Morehead State University (MSU). The Department of
Applied Engineering and Technology falls under the College of Science and Technology. The
Dean of the College of Science and Technology is Roger McNeil. Dr. Ahmad Zargari is the
chair of the AET department. The AET faculty is S. Adhikari, H. Chapman, W. Grisé, N. Joshi,
S. Krijestorac, R. Madhavannar, S. Mason, J. Stubbs, Y. You, S. Stapleton, and A. Zargari.
The Department of Applied Engineering and Technology offers the following degrees:
AAS - Engineering Technology (with tracks), BS - Engineering Management, BS - Engineering
Technology, BS - Industrial Education (with tracks), and a BS -Technology Management. A
Minor in Industrial Technology is also offered. The tracks offered within the degreed areas are:
Design and Manufacturing Engineering Technology, Construction Management and Civil
Engineering Technology, Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology, and Occupationbased Career and Technical Training.
There will be several technical issues involved with the addition of an MRP system to the AET
Department Machining Lab. The main issue will be with processing frequency. Since cutting
tools and other equipment break from time to time, it is always a good idea to have a few extra
tools just in case.
There are two issues involved with the processing decision: how frequently the records should be
processed and whether all the records should be processed at the same time. For the machining
lab, every time a tool is deemed broken or unusable, this should be recorded in order to keep
track of inventory. When inventory drops below a certain mark, then the records should be
processed, and new tools should be ordered. Ideally, if inventory does not drop below this mark
for the entirety of the semester, then all records should be processed between semesters, that way
a fresh supply would be waiting for the following semester to begin.
A second technical issue would be incorporating a safety stock and safety lead time. Integrating a
safety stock is important to ensure that the inventory does not drop below that ‘mark’ so that the
inventory will never reach zero. Having a safety lead time means ordering the tools earlier than
when they need to be there. If ordering at the end of the semester isn’t enough time for the new
tools to arrive by the beginning of the next semester, then a safety lead time is very important.
Planning must be taken to determine when to place the order and make sure that the new
shipment arrives before the following semester starts.
Material Requirement Planning can have such an impact on the AET department at MSU.
With an MRP system the AET department can keep track of raw materials, tools, finished
products, and even the quality of the machines. An effective MRP will allow the department to
have a forward-looking approach when it comes to managing materials. One of the greatest
benefits of having an MRP system would be the organization it would bring within the
department, all the decisions that are made to fix a machine, solve a problem, or order raw goods
must be made within the system, and the transactions must be processed to show change.
However, this is also a great challenge for the AET department. In order for a MRP system to be
effective in a positive way all of the records must be very accurate and show the true nature of
the department if it is to be useful. MRP would be a great tool for MSU to use not only in the
AET department but all over the university.
Problem 5 on Page 212
Period
Period
Period
Period
Period
Period
1
2
3
4
5
6
Gross
Require
ment
20
20
40
30
30
30
Schedul
ed
Receipts
50
0
0
0
0
0
32
12
22
42
12
32
50
50
0
50
PAB
2
Planned
Order
Release
Q = ; LT=50; SS=0
In periods 3, 4, and 6 the planned orders where released