ABSTRACT
The evolution of planning systems over the past 40 years has gone through many phases, from an early financial focus to a systems focus that forms the information hub of most modern companies. The primary leg in collaborative manufacturing, the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, is outlined here to provide those unfamiliar with these systems an overview of their evolution, function, and fit into the information systems structure. If you are familiar with modern ERP planning systems, you may not find much of value in this chapter. If you are not familiar with the terms “material requirements planning” (MRP) and “ERP,” this chapter will provide a good outline of what these systems do and how they have evolved. Since companies have a variety of systems from MRP to MRPII to ERP and other systems in between, the term “planning systems” will be used to describe the process, unless the reference is to a specific level of functionality.
