MRP, MRPII and ERP Education In-house, private education in the better use of Manufacturing Planning and Control Systems (i.e. MRP, MRPII, ERP and Business Excellence)

The objective of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing resource planning (MRPII) education courses outlined below, is to help you use the most suitable manufacturing planning and control processes and techniques for your business. Courses are available for companies who are implementing a new ERP system or who would like to improve their current planning and control processes. The world class manufacturing and purchasing courses help you cash the benefits of the improved levels of control with lower costs and shorter lead times. The courses do not just teach generic principles but focus on the techniques you need.

Phil at Baxters Foods discussing issues that arose following an MRP course

For people who attended MRP limited education courses.  You can still see the list of courses that were available by clicking the MRP logo .

In response to increasing pressure on costs and the time of key managers, the courses can be divided into modules, from 1 day duration, that can be tailored into an education programme to address your particular needs and issues. The courses can be delivered on your own premises or at a convenient local venue. In-house courses are always shorter than the equivalent public courses as they are specific to your company and staff need only attend the modules that address their own needs. There are open feedback sessions at the end of all courses and progress reports are issued as required to highlight problems that were encountered during the course and suggested solutions.

* To book a course click please  click here for contact details.

And finally - in order to ensure that your hard work is not allowed to dissipate over time, there is a Business Excellence Maintenance package so you can not only hold the gains but continue to improve as the company grows and changes and as new people arrive.

Courses available on CD - our two most popular courses are now available on CD for just £95 (about US$150). You can preview these courses and run the first audiovisual session free (see below).

Stock record accuracy - a 10 session course on CD to helps you set up and run a project to achieve at least 98% stock record accuracy. Click here to preview the course and run the first session free. The course comes with the Stock Record Accuracy e-book. You can purchase this Stock Record Accuracy course on CD price £95.00 (about US$150) by clicking the "buy SRA course now" button below (purchase made securely by credit card through PayPal).

Master production scheduling - a 10 session course to enable you to achieve a significantly improved level of customer service by improved master scheduling. Each session is followed by a workshop to apply the techniques described either on your chosen planning system or using the spreadsheet supplied with the course. The first session, which you can run for free from the course preview enables you to identify any problems with your current methods of planning and describes where master scheduling can help you. The course comes with a copy of the e-book on Master Scheduling. You can purchase this How to Master Schedule course on CD price £95.00 (about US$150) by clicking the "buy MPS course now" button below (purchase made securely by credit card through PayPal).

Table of contents

1. Course Details

Overview courses

1.1 Senior Manager's Course

Content - overview of current best practice in planning and control, we call this "Business Excellence", emphasising the need to integrate financial business planning with operations through the application of sales and operations planning. The seminar covers in overview the principles of master scheduling, material and capacity planning. The course also focuses on the time scale, costs and benefits and resources required for implementation of an effective enterprise-wide resource planning system.

Course objectives - by the end of the course delegates will be able to evaluate the costs and benefits of various degrees of change to their business and the strategy necessary to achieve them.

The seminar is designed for - top management including the Managing Directors or CEO, other Directors, Vice Presidents and the project team who are about to implement an ERP system or improve their use of an existing planning system.

1.2 Business Excellence Fundamentals

Content - the basic concepts including enterprise and manufacturing resource planning, total quality and just in time, followed by details of sales and operations planning, master scheduling, material requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, data accuracy, design issues, shop floor control, purchasing, performance measures, cost and benefit analysis and implementation strategies.

Course aims - to give all delegates not only an understanding of current best practices, "Business Excellence", but the knowledge to connect the ideas to their role in the business.

The course is designed for :
1) The 4 day course is the ideal course for people investigating best practice in manufacturing planning and control at the start of a business improvement project.
2) The 2 day course can be used as a foundation course prior to the detail modules below, as an alternative to the 4 day course, for a project team and task force members or as an introduction to "Business Excellence" prior to a project.
3) The 1 day course is a refresher or for those not directly involved with an implementation.

You can download a 4 page courses brochure with a full agenda from Business Excellence Fundamentals brochure.

1.3 ERP Software Selection and Implementation

Content - the basic concepts including enterprise and manufacturing resource planning, total quality and just in time, followed by details of sales and operations planning, master scheduling, material requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, data accuracy, design issues, shop floor control, purchasing, performance measures, cost and benefit analysis, ERP software tiers, software selection strategies, software training and critical success factors for implementation .

Course aims - to give all delegates an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of ERP software and a clear plan for the next moves.

The course is designed for :
The 2 day course is for anyone who is investigating whether ERP is the right system for them.  It also teaches best practice in manufacturing planning and control with or without the use of an ERP system. 

You can download a 4 page courses brochure with a full agenda.

1.4 Material Requirements Planning

Course content - the material requirements planning mechanics, the planning parameters of lead time, order quantity and safety stock, preparing and releasing the plan, managing change and the links to the rest of the planning processes.

Course objective - to give everyone directly involved with planning a practical insight into how to get the most from planning systems.

The course is designed for - planners, master schedulers and purchasing, no previous planning knowledge is required.

Specialist courses

1.5 Sales and Operations Planning

Course content - design of a sales and operations planning and rough cut capacity planning process, integration with the business plan, link to master production scheduling, sales forecasting and implementation.

Course objective - the delegates will be able to set up and become actively involved with their company's sales and operations planning process. The 2 day course has now been re-designed so that after the course you can have a draft Sales and Operations Planning policy including the families, time fences, responsibilities, performance measures and names of the attendees at each stage agreed with the first round of meeting in the delegate's diaries.

The course is designed for - managing directors along with sales and marketing, materials, manufacturing and finance directors and all managers who will be involved in setting up or operating the sales and operations planning process.

Course objective - delegates will be able to take an active role in the design and development of the master scheduling function. Commercial people will understand the important role of demand management (available to promise, forecast consumption and abnormal demand). Planners will come away with a framework within which to develop their master scheduling skills.

The course is designed for - key directors and managers from sales, marketing, customer service and planning roles as well as master production schedule task force members. The course is invaluable for anyone who will be entering customer orders and master scheduling.

Content - bill of material structure considerations, part numbering, what should be on the bills, routings, accuracy, software, change control, new product introduction and design for manufacturability.

Course objective - delegates will be able to evaluate their bill structure and manage any changes necessary to implement new and accurate bills of materials. The delegates will also learn how to integrate new product introduction into current manufacturing plans.

The course is designed for - all managers who have responsibility for producing or maintaining bill of material information and bill of material task force members.

Content - starting from why data accuracy is a key ingredient for a high level of business performance, the course shows how to develop reliable processes, the tools needed, measurement and auditing methods and the importance of correcting the causes of errors.

Course objective - to provide delegates with the tools and techniques to achieve and maintain accurate data, for ever.

The course is designed for - anyone with direct or indirect responsibility for stock record accuracy.

1.9 Lean Manufacturing and World Class Manufacturing

Content - there are 2 main elements each of which is supported by a workshop.

•  Kanban and just in time - to reduce lead times and increase responsiveness whilst reducing waste, inventory and work in progress. The morning session starts with lean manufacturing and total quality basics, then looks at work flow, kanbans and point of use storage. The afternoon workshop is a factory simulation exercise where the team (between 8 and 12 people) turn a conventional batch production environment into a World Class company (100% on time in full, 100% quality and below target costs) in 5 "years". The objective of the day is to help people to "think outside the box" to set you on the path of continuous improvement in all operations.
• Work in progress control - to minimise stock, work in progress and batch sizes. The morning session looks at the theory behind set-up time reduction, housekeeping, problem solving techniques, planned maintenance and flexibility. The afternoon workshop is a set-up time reduction exercise. The objective of the day is to enable you to economically produce your products in smaller batches by focusing on set-up time reduction and all other factors that drive down work in progress.

Course objective - to provide delegates with a good understanding of world class manufacturing techniques, where and how they can be applied and, importantly the enthusiasm to start a process of continuous improvement.

The courses and workshops are designed for - managers, leading hands and operators directly involved with the manufacturing side of the business.

In addition to the above courses, we are also happy to take our World Class Manufacturing roadshow anywhere in the world. See our 4 page .pdf brochure for details.

1.10 Capacity Requirements Planning

Content - the morning session looks at the ERP/MRPII principles, planning capacity, scheduling and performance measures. The workshop in the afternoon uses 3 teams who try to resolve a typical clash of priorities situation and shows how to make better use of the system functionality to manage critical resources in line with customer requirements. The objective of the day is to teach not only how to maintain schedule adherence and high quality but also to be responsive to customer needs (the workshop requires a minimum of 6 people).

Course objectives - to demonstrate the important role of capacity requirements planning in manufacturing planning and control, the mechanics and the information required.

The course is designed for - everyone involved in shop floor planning and manufacturing team leaders.

Content - shows how to develop better communications with vendors through the planning system using vendor schedules, vendor kanban and vendor managed inventory.

Course objective - to start all delegates on the road to continuous improvement in relationships with their vendors.

The course is designed for - all managers involved in purchasing.

Content - Each element of the business is examined and a set of integrated performance measures established to support the changes necessary and that tie into the overall objectives of the business.

Course aims - to provide delegates with the tools and techniques to achieve forward looking performance measures and indicators that deliver the best possible business performance.

The course is designed for - anyone who is responsible for setting or achieving performance measures from high level financial and customer service objectives to bill of material accuracy, stock accuracy and basic data. The course is also particularly valuable for finance directors who need to ensure their reports are based on sound data.

1.13 Distributer's course

Course objective - demonstrate how to optimise the whole supply chain and raise all data accuracy up to at least 98% and maintain it there.

The course is designed for - anyone implementing or operating a planning system in a distribution company, including those with responsibility for data or stock in a distributer or warehouse including store keepers, buyers and those in customer service.

2. Course fees

Venue costs are additional but you can choose to run the course in-house or at a convenient local venue to minimise costs.

My travel (from Sussex) and accommodation are charged at cost. There is no charge for travel days unless the journey time is in excess of 10 hours.

3. Training Planning Matrix

4. To book courses