Chapter 314 MRP

MRP is shorthand for materials requirements planning. Big Business offers simple planning functions so you can see how your orders may need you to build products, buy components and products, and plan for the arrival of items on purchase orders.

Show Allocated brings up a list of orders, including built items, that need the item you are viewing. In our example, Bike and Bike2 both need BikeWheels, which are a subassembly that needs BikeSpokes. Big Business tells you how many and when.


  MRP Add-On

MRP is an Add-On for displaying Orders and PO's to help plan, purchase, and fulfill.

From the Show menu on an Item choose Allocated and you will see Orders and PO's that are allocated.


  Interactive Allocate

Interactive Allocate gives you a snapshot of your fulfillment schedule based on criteria you choose such as when to buy, build, expedite, or transfer from another warehouse.
(7403, MRP)


  Show Allocated

Allocated shows you the items on orders that allocate the item you are viewing.

Allocated for BikeSpoke shows one order for Bike which Allocates 24 BikeSpoke, then a PO which adds 44, then an order for Bike2 which also uses 24 spokes.

This feature is enable by MRP Add-on and per-employee by clicking Show Allocated or Show Allocated By Warehouse on the Control tab of the Employee card. (7406)


  Show Allocated By Warehouse

Allocated shows you the items on orders that allocate the item you are viewing.

Allocated for BikeSpoke shows one order for Bike which Allocates 24 BikeSpoke, then a PO which adds 44, then an order for Bike2 which also uses 24 spokes.

This feature is enable by MRP Add-on and per-employee by clicking Show Allocated By Warehouse on the Controls tab of the Employee card. (7546)


  Allocated Builds

Allocated Builds shows items on orders and their needed components.

• On Hand is current for the selected item and warehouse. We have 5 BikeSpoke.
• Allocates


  Ship Date

Ship Date is on the Expanded tab of an Order and lets you set a date for shipping. Ship Date is available on Order Search, Export, and Forms.

Ship Date is used for Show Allocated which calculates usage of components for Built items on Orders.

Ship Date is now included on Quote, Quotes Search, Export, and Forms.


  MRP Settings

MRP Settings lets you choose how to Sort and Display results for Allocated items.

For example, you may want to sort Orders by Ship Date and display PO's by ETA.

Additionally you may want to specify a Lead Time, like 3 Days, to help in planning.


  Include Status

Include Status is a checkbox in MRP Settings to change display of Show Allocated.

By default this option is Off and Status is not included in Show Allocated results.

When the Include Status option is On, the Status of the allocated Order is included and Show Allocated results will include Statuses like Shipped, Released, Partial, Placed.


  Sort Status

Sort Status is a checkbox in MRP Settings that changes the sorting for Show Allocated.

By default this option is Off and sorting is done by Ship Date for the allocaated Order.

When the Sort Status option is On, sorting is done first by Status, in descending order:
• Shipped
• Released
• Partial
• Placed


  Include Negatives

Include Negatives is an option in MRP Settings that lets you put components that are being substituted on an order and see them in Show Allocated.

To enable this option go to Controls, to MRP Settings and click the checkbox for Include Negatives.


  Automatically Shipped

Automatically Shipped changes the Status of an Order to Shipped and sets the Orders Shipped checkbox for an order when a shipment is processed using the Shipping Connect Add-On which connects UPS, FedEx, or another system to Big Business.

This setting requires a restart of Big Business Server to take effect. Go to the Controls toolbar to MRP Settings and check the box for Automatically Shipped. Then, restart your Big Business Software to have this take effect.


  Released Status

Released Status is used in the MRP Add-on to indicate an Order is released to be filled.

Released orders are locked. If you click on the Lock icon the Help link takes you here.

To edit a Released order ask your system adminstrator to change Shipped Status.


  Shipped Status

Shipped is a Status used in the MRP Add-on to indicate an Order is ready to invoice.

Shipped orders are locked. If you click on the Lock icon the Help link takes you here.

To edit a Shipped order ask your system adminstrator to change Shipped Status.


  MRP Fixes

Big Business 13.48 fixes Rounding on some MRP Calculations to use System Settings.

Number Formats on the Company card let you set rounding and display for numbers such as Quantity, which you can set as whole numbers or showing five decimal places.