I agree, there’s nothing surprising about the fact that it takes a lot to make MRP work. APICS says this. I say this. You say it. We’re all right.

I am simply asking, “Is all that effort worth it, for most companies, most of the time,” and my tentative answer is, “No.” Why do I say that? Because I’ve been to a lot of companies and looked at their installations, and it’s been clear that that’s what they decided.

I doubt that APICS comes to the same conclusion; I really do.

What are alternatives? Nothing very profound. In my experience, Kanban is a simpler and less brittle way replenishment strategy. Flow manufacturing is very powerful for certain kinds of production. In most manufacturing organizations, process improvement and redesign (focused on making replenishment more effective and demand-sensitive) is probably easier and more reliable than putting in a computer system.

I also think that many companies might well want to use advanced supply chain optimization packages for managing key processes or key inventory items and using more simple-minded, but reliable processes (like Kanban) for everything else.

The points are valid enough, but not particularly new or revolutionary. The core data has to be right. Stable demand works better. And peole are loathe to do the extra work to get there.

So what other options are there? If MRP systems are middle-aged apps, what newer apps exist? What replaces or reinvigorates MRP systems?

It is not surprising that users don’t want to use the system, and that they bypass it when they can, invalidating any statistical analysis because so much stuff happens off the books.

For a company with high-turnover and one that values low cost workers, I can see the advantage of an ERP product that keeps its users on the rails.

But that should not be the goal of an ERP product. In my high school math class we were warned about the evils of using a calculator. If you don’t understand the math, then the answer could be completely wrong and you may not know it. But in the hands of a professional a calculator can be a formidable tool.

ERP software should be about augmenting the capability of your employees. It should provide them with accurate information to allow them to make smart decisions, faster. It should not try and hold their hands, limit their control or obstruct them in any way.

With this perspective, an ERP system has to be flexible enough to accommodate whatever the user wants to do, and just because the system let them do it does not absolve the user of that responsibility. That would be like telling my math teacher that my calculator came up with the wrong answer.