Can MRP be a Demand Driven Tool

Chad Smith of the Constraints Management Group was the guest on the Business901 Podcast, Bringing New Thoughts to the Supply Chain thru MRP. This is a transcription of the podcast. Chad is currently writing the third revised edition of Orlickys Materials Requirements Planning with Carol Ptak (a former B901 Podcast Guest).

An excerpt from the eBook:

MRP is not just a push based tool. It can be a demand driven or pull based tool as well.

The problem is, that in order, when you move from a push based to a pull based mode of operation, whether it’s planning, scheduling, or execution, you are going to need some supplementary tools or functionalities in your MRP system that don’t really exist very well today. Certainly they are not well understood. They are not in a lot of MRP products. But MRP can be a demand driven system. It just needs to change a little bit.

Bringing New Thoughts to the Supply Chain –

Since the late 1990’s Chad and his partners at CMG have been at the forefront of developing and articulating the concepts behind Actively Synchronized Replenishment as well as building ASR compliant technology (Replenishment+®). Additionally, Chad is an internationally recognized expert in the application and development of the Theory of Constraints (TOC).