Flexibility and responsiveness in relation to the use of MRPII Available to Purchase

Seeks to document a responsive strategy to manufacturing planning with Cussons (UK) Limited, a company operating in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. In the FMCG environment products are manufactured to a sales forecast, and customers demand 100 per cent service levels within lead‐times, sometimes in the order of hours rather than days. It is essential that a company′s stock replenishment procedures should reflect this situation rather than inhibit its ability to respond. Manufacturing resource planning (MRPII), the standard for planning and procurement used comprehensively within manufacturing industry, is a tool that has been generally accepted and used within the FMCG sector. It was not, however, either designed or developed to cope with the specific demands imposed by this type of business. Suggests that MRPII, rather than facilitating responsive planning, may actually form a barrier to change.