Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2001
L. A. Litteral
Recommended Citation
Rondeau, Patrick and Litteral, L. A., "The evolution of manufacturing planning and control systems: From reorder point to enterprise
resource planning." (2001). Scholarship and Professional Work - Business. 41.
http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cob_papers/41
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EVOLUTION OF MANUFACTURING PLANNING AND
CONTROL SYSTEMS: FROM REORDER POINT TO
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
PATRICK J. RONDEAU
LEWIS A. LITTERAL
Management Systems Department, E. Claiborne Robins School of Business, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173
Manufacturing planning and control (MPC) systems cusses the evolution of computerized manufacturing
have existed since the earliest days of the industrial revo- planning and control systems from ROP to MRP, MRP to
lution [30]. To gain a historical perspective, it is useful MRP-II, MRP-II to MRP-II/MES, and finally MRP-II/
to look at the evolution of these systems. Five major MES to ERP/MES systems (see fig. 1). For each stage, the
stages were involved: (1) reorder point (ROP) systems, major attributes of that stage as well as the forces driving
(2) materials requirement planning (MRP) systems, (3) the evolutionary process between stages will be dis-
manufacturing resource planning (MRP-II) systems, (4) cussed. These driving forces and attributes will be framed
MRP-II with manufacturing execution systems (MES), in terms of a review of the appropriate manufacturing
and (5) enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) with and information systems literature.
MES [19, 22, 23, 27, 33]. When examined in detail, each
stage represents the next logical step in manufacturing BRIEF HISTORY OF MPC SYSTEM EVOLUTION
philosophy and technological innovation over the pre-
ceding stage. In their earliest form manufacturing planning and
Perhaps more than any other single factor, informa- control systems consisted of groups of plant foremen,
tion technology has changed the basis of production each responsible for the scheduling of production, or-
economics by automating many clerical tasks and dering of materials, and shipment of products within
greatly improving manufacturing accuracy, reliability, their assigned plant area. Although often their skill
and predictability [15]. As manufacturing planning and varied widely, the relatively simple design and opera-
control systems have evolved, their designers adopted tion of these plants allowed even the most poorly
many of the latest information technologies. These trained foreman to operate them successfully. As these
technologies have been embedded in new MPC sys- early industrial era firms evolved, highly specialized
tem versions or sold as “add on” functions and fea- reorder point systems of production and inventory
tures intended to enhance their basic capabilities. control gradually replaced the simple and often ineffi-
In this article we seek to explore in more detail the cient plant foreman system [30].
most recent stages of MPC evolution, MRP-II with MES, Reorder point systems have been described as being
and ERP with MES. In today’s global manufacturing positional in nature. That is, they use a historical approach
environment, it is necessary to continue integrating to forecasting future inventory demand, which assumes
advanced information technologies with existing MPC that past data are representative of future demand. If, at
capabilities to maintain and improve MPC system ef- any time, an item’s inventory level falls below some pre-
fectiveness. The need for such technologies has grown determined level, either additional inventory is ordered
beyond simply processing information faster, to infer- or new production orders are released in fixed order
ring greater meaning and value from it. MPC systems quantities (FOQ). Although most early ROP systems
such as MES and ERP have emerged to support the were manual, automated ROP systems soon followed
greater integration of internal firm operations as well when commercial mainframe computers were intro-
as the greater integration of customers and suppliers duced in the late 1950s and early 1960s [27].
into these operations. During the mid-1960s computerized materials re-
We propose a stage model as a useful way of organiz- quirement planning systems slowly began to replace
ing and defining our thoughts concerning the nature and ROP systems as the manufacturing control system of
content of manufacturing planning and control systems. choice. MRP systems presented a clear advantage in
The MPC stage model presented within this article dis- that they offered a forward-looking, demand-based
ing the status of shop floor activities, they provide little closed loop MPC system, MRP-II with MES can best be
information about how to better manage the execu- described as a continuous loop MPC system [11].
tion of these activities. Thus, by the mid-1990s many Early MES implementations were first achieved in
firms and professional organizations like APICS industries such as semiconductors, aerospace, defense,
reached the conclusion that a more advanced MPC and pharmaceuticals. These industries are character-
system, capable of real-time manufacturing planning ized by high-value products, complex or unstable pro-
and execution control, was needed. cessing, or heavy governmental regulations [20]. An
The solution to this problem came during the early MES is an online integrated computerized system that
1990s in the form of manufacturing execution systems. is the accumulation of the methods and tools used to
The emergence of MES represents the development of a accomplish production [22]. A typical MES software
critical interface between a firm’s MRP-II systems and its package may consist of 25 modules and cost up to a
shop floor and device control systems. MES’s most im- couple of hundred thousand dollars. The six general
portant contribution is that it unites core manufacturing functions that most MES systems seek to serve include
processes into a value delivery system focused on meet- (1) the management of machine resource availability,
ing customer requirements and demand [21]. It provides (2) prioritization of production schedules, (3) control
for the flexible, real-time execution, feedback, and con- of the flow of production units between machines, (4)
trol of a wide range of manufacturing related processes management of available labor, (5) automated docu-
to better meet future market requirements. The imple- ment control, and (6) provision of quality, process, and
mentation of MES has significantly extended many firm’s maintenance management support [14].
current MPC capabilities supporting greater vertical and At a more detailed level the core MES modules as de-
horizontal integration within their manufacturing func- fined by the Manufacturing Execution Systems Associa-
tion. Thus, while MRP-II has often been described as a tion (MESA) include a planning system interface, work