Functional requirements of manufacturing planning and control systems in medium‐sized batch manufacturing companies Available to Purchase

This paper describes the use of a set of manufacturing planning and control (MPC) system activities for assessing the functionality suitable in individual companies. Field studies were carried out in medium‐sized batch manufacturing companies and the set of activities was used to investigate the functionality and level of computer support suitable in each case. The field studies verified the set of activities and the findings were used to refine the activities and identify additional activities to be included in the set. The field studies were also used to develop detailed reasons why each activity was considered relevant or not relevant. From the field studies it was possible to conclude that the overall type of company (i.e. make‐to‐order (MTO), make‐to‐stock (MTS), etc.) was not in itself sufficient to predict which activity would be relevant to a particular company. It is proposed that there are numerous reasons why an activity is relevant or not relevant and that it is the detailed characteristics of the individual company which are important in reaching this decision.