The Fifth Column—Ten Ways to Go Down With MRP

The purpose of this short article is to comment on some reasons why MIS systems, such as Materials Requirements Planning, for example, can be successful. However, I will do this by enumerating 10 reasons why MRP systems have gone down to defeat in recent industrial history. Now, I must also warn the reader that I have usually appeared at the scene of the crime long after the installation was terminal. I suspect that consultants are usually called in at such times because (1) if the consultant can pull it off, obviously the situation wasn't so bad, and/or (2) if the consultant blows it, the situation was hopeless anyway (obviously).

The following methods are presented here to show some common errors made by management in the acquisition and implementation (attempted) of MRP systems. It is hoped that the translation of the results to other types of MIS systems is obvious to the most casual observer.