The Difference Between MRP I and MRP II
MRP I is a historical and academic term. For all intents today, any MRP software on the market is effectively an MRP II system.
MRP systems (I and II) help plan and optimize manufacturing production lines. The difference being, MRP II uses additional data from accounting records and sales for further analysis and forecasting of manufacturing requirements.
MRP I stands for material requirements planning, while MRP II stands for manufacturing resource planning. However, the terms are often used interchangeably.
MRP is about taking inputs (material cost, material availability, expected demand, forecasted demand, staffing ability, machinery capacity) all in order to make sure you have the right amount of materials/labor/machinery on hand at any given time to satisfy the market or your company production goals.
History of MRP
- Mid 1960’s: A researcher at IBM coined the term MRP in a research paper. He documented a simple model to allow for just-in-time inventory.
- Mid 1980’s: The term MRP II was popularized by Oliver Wight. MRP II was developed to expand upon MRP I, providing additional functionalities including finances and general accounting, demand forecasting for inventory requirements, machine and labor capacity planning, and quality assurance.
- Early 1990’s: ERP (enterprise resource planning) is popularized when MRP II is extended to include more components of the entire organization: project management goals, financing abilities, staffing capability, and more.
MRP I and II Comparison
These are some of the basic features and functionalities of MRP I and MRP I:
| Features | MRP I | MRP II |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory Control | X | X |
| Bill of Materials (BOM) | X | X |
| Master Production Scheduling (MPS) | X | X |
| Equipment Maintenance Scheduling | X | |
| Accounting & Financial Planning | X | |
| Forecast Demand | X |
What’s the difference between MRP and ERP?
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software was developed to build upon the existing functionalities of MRP II software.
ERP systems are historically and most commonly used by manufacturing and distribution companies. However, the term has been extended to any type of organization that want to use data from customer demand to help manage staffing and inventory levels.
Popular MRP Software
The most popular MRP systems in our network are:
For more popular systems, visit our MRP software category page.
