ERP or MRP System - which is right for you?
If your business operates in manufacturing or production, you are likely to have heard of ERP or MRP. Similar in both name and concept, the range of options available can make it difficult to work through the differences and understand which one might work best for you.
In short, both MRP and ERP systems are pieces of software that help you to run your business better based on historical information, forecasting algorithms and your chosen business priorities. The key difference is the scope; MRP has a much narrower, manufacturing-centric focus than ERP, which provides business-wide benefits as well as supply chain management. To give you a better understanding of the components of each, and to help you to decide which one might be right for your company, we’ve set out some of the detail below.
Which one is right for you?
Business size used to be a factor when deciding whether ERP or MRP was the right tool for a business. However, most ERP systems on the market now are modular, which means that you can select which areas (departmental workflows) to integrate and therefore which modules are required. Not only that but in working with Access, the implementation can be staged, with the core modules purchased and integrated first. For example, phase one could consist of order processing, purchasing and supplier management; phase two could include CRM and accounts; phase three would then cover finite scheduling and HR.
Some businesses simply don’t need every module. If you have existing processes that you are happy with, or the demands in some areas are not enough to necessitate a fully integrated ERP system, a partial ERP system (specific modules only) may be the right answer.
If you have, for example, a finance package in place that you are not willing to change, but lack all other departmental software (or are unhappy with existing solutions), then we may be able to look at the option of integrating the majority of our ERP suite with your existing finance package.
Finally, MRP may be the better option where either you don’t need or aren’t in the position to finance a full ERP system. For those businesses that already have software in place for customer-facing processes such as estimating, sales order processing and debtor management but lack supplier and stock management and production control, MRP would be the sensible choice. Equally, if you do not have the budget for a full (or partial) ERP system, but manufacturing control is a critical business requirement, then MRP may be the right solution for you.
