Manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) accounts for the materials needed and prevents overages while taking care that enough inventory is available to meet current and future production needs. MRP II also manages other resources for production, including staffing and financial conditions.
Material requirements planning (MRP), like its successor MRP II, helps manufacturers determine the least amount of inventory needed to meet present and upcoming production demands. This approach minimizes carrying costs and waste while ensuring enough materials are on hand to fulfill orders and maximize revenue.
MRP is the predecessor to MRP II. Both are tools for optimal inventory control and production scheduling. However, MRP II has more sophisticated tools that help manage all resources needed to manufacture a product, including human, machine and financial.
Building on the existing functionalities of MRP II software, enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are more expansive. They help an organization manage core processes and systems across nearly every functional area of the company, including HR, supply chain and sales.