Manufacturing firms compete on the basis of cost, quality, and delivery. They are under constant pressure to deliver better quality products more quickly at lower cost. Manufacturing companies use a variety of software tools to improve the quality and speed with which decisions are made. In this paper we briefly discuss MRP/MRP II environments, and describe limitations of some current practices, including a situation within IBM which led us to develop new models and software tools for manufacturing resource allocation. Two specific applications that we have built are described. The underlying mathematics and the solution methods are also discussed.
By: Brenda L. Dietrich
Published in: RC20389 in 1996
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