Material Requirement Planning (MRP): How a Sage X3 Module can Help

MRP systems help companies calculate the materials and components they need to manufacture finished products. These tools include inventory management of on-hand materials, identification of missing components, and the ability to schedule the purchase of necessary parts.

The challenge? As regulatory demands around product data capture — such as tracking material origins, composition, and intended destination — become more complex, legacy MRP tools may not be up to the task. In addition, ongoing material shortages can frustrate efforts to create simple material plans.

Here’s a look at current market challenges and how Sage X3 can help.

The State of MRP

While the past few years came with unexpected disruptions to materials availability, several issues have persisted even as public health pressures began to ease.

As noted by Retail Dive, for example, materials such as semiconductors, aluminum, plastics, and building materials are all in short supply. For businesses, this means longer lead times and higher prices: Nonresidential construction prices are up 23.2% in 2022 compared to 2021.

Also challenging are evolving traceability requirements. In many cases, companies are now required to record the registered name and address of manufacturers or importers, the date of component manufacture, the location of manufacture, the batch number or ID of materials, and any associated SKUs.

The result is a dual challenge for material requirement planning (MRP). Businesses need a way to track what they have, what they need, and where they can get it, and need processes in place that streamline management once materials have arrived.

How a Sage X3 Module can Help

Sage X3 can help companies improve their MRP approach.

This starts with the Sage X3 solution itself. Cloud-based, powerful, and intuitive, X3 makes it possible for companies to take control of their operations and provides visibility into key processes. Sage X3 ERP solutions deliver a trifecta of functional benefits that include collaboration, personalization, and mobile support.

Easily manage workflows across multiple sites with X3, and personalize your workspace with timely and relevant data. Then, increase your reach with mobile integration that lets your team work anywhere, anytime.

When it comes to production and manufacturing, meanwhile, businesses can also benefit from the implementation of a Sage X3 MRP module. Benefits of this approach include:

• BOM Planning

Understand what you have, where it is, and how it can help your business with bill of materials (BOM) planning. With both single and multi-level BOM management, your team can achieve greater product consistency, quality, and collaboration across operations. In practice, this gives you complete control over all product data along with the ability to connect related product details for easier search and discovery.

• Projected Stock Management

With comprehensive projected stock management capabilities, companies can see what they have, what’s on order, and when it should arrive. This helps inform both short- and long-term materials requirement planning along with pinpointing potential roadblocks such as shipping delays or low supplier stock levels.

• Time Bucket Customization

Time buckets help companies understand the balance between materials supply and requirements over a given time period. With the Sage MRP module, these buckets can be customized to provide reliable data about projected, current, and expiring stock levels in relation to the specified time period. This period could be a day, a week, or a month, depending on your planning requirements and current state of production.

• Master Production Schedule (MPS) Integration

Master production schedules are critical for companies to determine how much stock is required to meet demand, and when this stock is needed to meet production goals. The Sage X3 MRP module provides complete MPS integration, meaning your team can spend their time on materials planning to meet emerging demand — instead of switching between multiple applications to find critical MPS data.

Making the Most of Materials Requirement Planning

Better materials planning means reduced waste, improved operations, and enhanced ROI. But this doesn’t happen by accident. In a world of ongoing material gaps and evolving compliance regulations, companies need solutions that deliver collaborative, customizable, and comprehensive MRP support.

Ready to improve your MRP process with complete visibility and control? See how Sage X3 can help — contact IWI Group today to get started. Let’s talk.