Resource planning made simple with MRP software manufacturers love
Most manufacturers use MRP software for inventory management, material requirements planning, and more. Learn more about the benefits of MRP software and why they are critical for modern manufacturing.
Managing your manufacturing business without MRP software is no longer viable
With the rise in direct-to-consumer manufacturing, manufacturers have more opportunities than ever — as well as competition. MRP software helps manufacturers manage, prioritize, and scale operations in an increasingly digitalized and competitive space. Here’s how.
Cloud MRP software provides full visibility of your inventory
MRP software for manufacturing allows you to tap into your inventory’s health, including tracking material costs and ensuring that you have enough materials for manufacturing at any given time.
An MRP solution also gives you real-time alerts when new products need to be manufactured or when shortages of raw materials are going on so you can have them replaced immediately. This prevents fluctuations in productivity due to new orders not being completed on time because materials are unavailable, and makes the data you need come to life.
Cloud MRP software like Katana allows you to:
- Use priority-based material requirements planning to avoid stockouts
- Track on-hand, committed, and expected stock amounts in real-time
- Manage product variants and materials in one place
- Monitor your resources and inventory across multiple warehouses
- Scan a range of barcodes, including supplier item codes, internally registered barcodes, and batch barcodes
Eliminate waste and save money with the right MRP solution
Katana MRP facilitates a smooth flow of goods and materials, helping you avoid having to hold on too long to a certain product or material or letting it go when you need it most.
It gives you the features you need to properly manage your resources and help you complete orders without having any leftover items. This way, you can actually cut costs by minimizing overhead or avoiding wasting products. Add hundreds of integrations with industry-leading e-commerce and accounting tools, and it’s a recipe for sustainable growth.
Katana’s end-to-end MRP software makes it easy to:
- Connect MRP software with your e-commerce shop, accounting tools, and more to keep your data in sync
- Track manufacturing costs based on your bill of materials (BOM) and production operations
- Create multilevel BOMs with subassemblies for accurate costing
- Make precise pricing decisions based on your product margins
MRP software improves resource and materials planning
MRP software is designed to help manufacturers run more efficiently thanks to its capacity to manage resources and offer better planning capabilities. With the right MRP software, you can plan production faster and better than ever before, so your business will always stay up to date with current developments.
MRP systems allow you to plan not only the materials needed for production but also other critical resources such as employees or machines — giving companies that make use of manufacturing software the advantage of running smoothly at all times.
Cloud MRP software like Katana allows you to:
- Drag-and-drop priorities for manufacturing tasks for maximum efficiency
- Track material requirements for efficient sales order fulfillment
- Identify delay risks related to material supply lead times
- Get accurate expected completion dates to keep sales teams informed
- Have a live floor-level production status overview
Integrate your MRP software with the services you know and love
Connect Katana to third-party software or create your own workflows via API
Choose from a range of e-commerce, accounting, CRM, reporting, and automation integrations to streamline your key business operations. Katana’s MRP software is built to fit with the software you need. Take a look at Katana’s growing list of integrations to learn more.
With Katana, we are able to track products, build recipes for materials, and set reorder points for our materials as well.”
Lisa Diep
Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Peace Collective
It’s great to be able to see where inventory faults happen and being able to fulfill orders and where the turnaround happens.”
Alaina Oehrlein
Production Lead at Essence One
Katana accurately keeps stock of assemblies and ingredients so that I can plan production and get instant feedback on whether we have enough resources in stock.”
Kelly Costello
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Puppy Cake
We also wanted an accurate inventory system for batch planning, warehousing, and sales. Katana fulfills all our needs in a simple, easy solution.”
Irah Vet
Founder and Production Manager at Hornby Organic
MRP software FAQs
MRP (II) stands for manufacturing resource planning software — not to be confused with MRP (material requirements planning software), which manages and integrates all business functions directly or indirectly related to manufacturing. Modern manufacturing involves more software than ever before, both when it comes to managing production and multiple sales channels, and the ability to stay agile is critical for success. MRP software helps you manage materials, finances, production capacity, and human resources. Many companies use the acronym “MRP” to refer to the software, but it’s important to distinguish between the management tool and its corresponding software system. The system is sometimes called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.
Although there is not a big difference between MRP software and MRP systems, most people believe that MRP software refers to an inventory management system and an MRP system refers to a process of scheduling. The truth is that it doesn’t matter what you call your materials planning program because both terms refer to the same type of product.
There are some differences when it comes to the actual planning, but this will vary depending upon which one you use and how many features and aspects your chosen plan takes into account. Even though there isn’t much of a difference between the two terms, it’s still helpful for business owners to know exactly what they’re talking about.
Inventory management tools are a major component of most MRP systems and software. Inventory management is a vital aspect of manufacturing operations because it helps you manage and track all kinds of resources as they flow through your processes and between departments. For example, you might use resource planning software to monitor the number of days it takes each supplier to fulfill your order or provide feedback about any problems with lead times. This can help you quickly pinpoint any delays or issues in your supply chain and either prevent them from happening again or take the necessary steps to resolve the problems.
Manufacturing resource planning is a strategic approach that integrates people, processes, and information across all phases of the product life cycle. This means from customer requests through to design, development, delivery to sustainment. A manufacturing resource plan (MRP) is a collaborative tool allowing companies to manage their supply chain in real time by optimizing inventory and workflow for maximum efficiency.
MRPs are an effective solution for manufacturers of any size looking to gain greater control over their production process. Teams within engineering, finance, research and development, operations, and customer service as well as outside suppliers all benefit from having access to real-time information on demand. What makes it unique is its ability to provide insight into departments that may not be directly involved with manufacturing but which could benefit from access to real-time information, such as engineering and finance departments.
Having a resource planning system can help you achieve an optimized workflow by keeping track of all activities such as material requirements, capacity, inventory, labor, and other resources that are required for production processes. An effective MRP system should provide insight into departments that may not be directly involved with manufacturing but might be tied to it through the purchasing process. With real-time data at their disposal, managers can see how costs and capacities fluctuate over time and modify their resource planning accordingly.
Katana is a cloud inventory platform that gives you a live look at your business, including live inventory and manufacturing management, batch tracking for end-to-end traceability, a Shop Floor App for total floor-level control, open API, and a growing channel partner network. Real-time master planning features automate resource allocation based on prioritized sales orders and integrations with e-commerce, accounting, CRM, and reporting services to centralize your operations in one visual platform.
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