A special study submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology

Special Studies Project Report (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1981

This study is carried out with the main objective of developing a system to improve the material planning function of the sanitary ware manufacturing company. Presently, ASTL is following an intuitive approach to plan the material. The problem with the present system is that the company is overstocking the materials required for a minimum period of three months. This is due to the tact t hat the company is not able to schedule the orders when the materials are required. Another problem is, placing rush orders which~ means increased cost. For these reasons, the company should adopt an inventory control technique . The document flow of manual system is given in Appendix c. The major requirements of the raw materials collie from Mold shop, Slip house, and Glaze room. The exact requirements of the raw materials are computed from the end-product production schedule which is subjected to local and foreign demand. The company is operating on a make-to-order basis. The demand for the products varies from period to period so that a system, which replaces the averaging process (based on historical systems) that use statistical techniques for ordering materials independent of their relationship to the end product is needed. MRP has unique characteristics which include planning and control of demands based on dependent future requirements, rather than historical averages. Finally, the working of the MRP system and the necessary measures t o implement the system successfully are cited.