In 4-5 sentences, respond to the following:

MRP, CRP, and ERP systems are not only applicable to manufactured products; however, CRP and ERP would be the two which could be utilized by companies which provide services rather than products. By its own definition, MRP is most suited to product environments due to its focus on inventory control, striving to maintain the lowest levels of inventory required. It plans when certain components are needed and schedules according to that exact need (Russell, Taylor, 2014). The cases where MRP focuses are primarily around production of products rather than provision of services, an MRP would not really fit well in a service industry.

CRP and ERP are definitely useful for service providers. In CRP, companies gain a tool which can be used to “project load” and identify under/overload (Russell, Taylor, 2014). The load file created from CRP can be used to compare released/planned orders with workforce capacity (Russell, Taylor, 2014). ERP is a planning tool keeps all of the company’s functional areas in sync due to having a shared information source regarding procurement, invoicing, and accounting (Russell, Taylor, 2014). “ERP serves as the backbone for an organization’s information needs” (Russell, Taylor, 2014). This statement couldn’t say it any better. We actually use ERP (SAP) in my company, it is a very powerful system which keeps all of our business data – and we are primarily a service organization. The system can do it all from simple “off the shelf” software order information to maintaining complex project systems for delivering service projects along with the related billing.