MRP study guide
MRP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
MRP - Material Requirements Planning - is the discipline of turning demand for finished goods into a time-phased plan for components, materials, and capacity. The MRP certification exam tests whether a candidate can operate that logic rather than merely recite it: how a master production schedule feeds a bill of materials explosion, how netting and lot sizing convert gross requirements into planned orders, how lead times and item master data shape the result, and how capacity planning and exception messages close the loop. The MRP study guide has 8 sections and about 2,827 words.
01MRP Fundamentals and the Manufacturing Planning Hierarchy
MRP is the third planning level, not the first. The cascade runs: strategic business plan (2–10 years), demand management and S&OP (1–3 years, monthly buckets), production plan (product families and volumes), master production schedule (end items in weeks or days), material requirements planning (components), then capacity requirements planning and shop-floor/purchasing execution.
380 words, about 2 min02Master Production Schedule and Demand Management
Demand management gathers every source of demand - forecasts, customer orders, intercompany and branch demand, service parts, promotional builds. The MPS then states what the company plans to build, in what quantity, and when, at end-item or planning-bill level.
331 words, about 2 min03Bill of Materials Structure and Explosion
A BOM states, for each parent, the components, quantity per, and the level each component occupies. Level 0 is the end item.
347 words, about 2 min04Inventory Records, Lead Times, and Item Master Data
Every planning decision depends on the item master: item number, description, unit of measure, item type (make, buy, phantom, reference), planner or buyer code, default lot size, safety stock, lead time, and ABC class. A wrong UOM or a missing planner code produces plausible but wrong planned orders.
360 words, about 2 min05Lot Sizing and Netting Logic
Per item, per period, in order: gross requirements, scheduled receipts, projected available (with safety stock as a floor), net requirement, planned order receipts, planned order releases offset by lead time. A lot size is applied to the net requirement, never to the gross, and the resulting receipt must cover the shortfall in the period it occurs.
312 words, about 2 min06Capacity Requirements Planning and Rough-Cut Capacity Planning
Rough-cut capacity planning (RCCP) tests the MPS against key resources before MRP runs. Its three techniques are capacity planning using overall factors (historical hours-per-item ratios), capacity bills (BOM-based hours per MPS item, untimed), and resource profiles (hours spread over time using lead-time offsets).
348 words, about 2 min07MRP Outputs, Action Messages, and Exception Management
Two families of output: planned orders (receipts and releases, with dates and quantities) and action messages. Planned orders feed CRP and become requisitions, work orders, or schedule agreements once firmed.
355 words, about 2 min08ERP Integration, System Implementation, and Performance Metrics
Closed-loop MRP adds capacity feedback plus the shop-floor and purchasing execution loops. MRP II extends it into finance - costing, budgeting, simulation.
394 words, about 2 min