Chapter 12 – MRP and ERP
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e. Number of finished products needed
4. One benefit would be the stability brought about by the maintenance of a constant size work
force. A negative point would be the buildup of inventories during certain quarters of the year.
Reading: ABCs of ERP
1. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is an integrated information system that is used to plan the
resources and processes needed to produce, ship and account for all customer orders both in
manufacturing and service organizations. Integration of databases permits standardization of
2. Three main reasons that firms adopt ERP are:
1. To integrate financial data: ERP creates a single version of the financial statements using a
2. To standardize manufacturing processes: ERP standardizes processes that produce the same
3. To standardize HR information: In companies with multiple business units ERP unifies the
information to track employee time and provide a means of communication with employees