Manufacturing integration strategy using MRP II and RTMs: a case study in South China

This paper describes a process to implement manufacturing strategies that are consistent with a particular company’s overall business strategies. The company is situated in Hong Kong and its manufacturing plants are in China. It specializes in the design and manufacturing of telecommunication equipment. The production site is located in China while customers and suppliers are distributed in many countries. Information regarding production machinery and performance, quality, workers’ performance are found to be inadequate. A methodology is proposed and used to identify and implement an integrated manufacturing strategy which consists of two major horizons: a real‐time monitoring system (RTMS) and manufacturing resources planning (MRP II). RTMS which can provide up‐to‐date information for the planning and scheduling of manufacturing orders, monitoring quality, improving communication and increasing productivity is implemented and is integrated with an MRP II system.