Information requirements analysis for manufacturing planning and control

Information integration is a driving force underlying many major efforts in manufacturing systems, ranging from MRP and MRP II to the current research on CIM. The problem of integration, however, has not been sufficiently studied previously from the perspective of information. The authors analyze the information aspects of the evolution of integrating manufacturing planning with its control. A conceptual framework is developed to help identify the potentials and requirements of information integration. The strengths and limitations of MRP II are discussed in the light of the framework, leading to a formulation of further integration. A modeling methodology using this framework is also suggested