MRP Material Requirements Planning Fundamentals 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary input that drives the MRP explosion process?
- Bill of Materials (BOM)
- Master Production Schedule (MPS) (Correct answer)
- Inventory status records
- Supplier lead time data
Correct answer: Master Production Schedule (MPS)
The Master Production Schedule is the primary driver of MRP, defining what end items need to be produced and when.
Question 2: In MRP terminology, 'gross requirements' refers to:
- Total demand before considering on-hand inventory (Correct answer)
- Net demand after subtracting available stock
- Demand sourced only from customer orders
- Demand generated by the MPS for end items only
Correct answer: Total demand before considering on-hand inventory
Gross requirements represent the total quantity of a component needed before accounting for any on-hand inventory or scheduled receipts.
Question 3: Which technique in MRP calculates net requirements by subtracting projected on-hand inventory from gross requirements?
- Time phasing
- Netting (Correct answer)
- Lot sizing
- Lead time offsetting
Correct answer: Netting
Netting is the MRP process of subtracting on-hand inventory and scheduled receipts from gross requirements to determine what actually needs to be ordered.
Question 4: A component with a lead time of 3 weeks is needed in week 8. When should the planned order release be scheduled?
- Week 5 (Correct answer)
- Week 8
- Week 11
- Week 3
Correct answer: Week 5
Lead time offsetting places the planned order release 3 weeks before the need date, so week 8 minus 3 weeks equals week 5.
Question 5: What does a 'scheduled receipt' in an MRP record represent?
- A planned order that has not yet been released
- An open purchase order or work order already in progress (Correct answer)
- Customer orders confirmed for future delivery
- Safety stock reserved for demand variability
Correct answer: An open purchase order or work order already in progress
Scheduled receipts are existing open orders (POs or work orders) already released to vendors or the shop floor that are expected to arrive in a future period.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes 'dependent demand' in the context of MRP?
- Demand driven directly by customer forecasts
- Demand for components derived from the production plan for parent items (Correct answer)
- Demand that fluctuates based on market conditions
- Demand for finished goods at the distribution level
Correct answer: Demand for components derived from the production plan for parent items
Dependent demand is derived mathematically from the demand for parent items using the BOM and is the core demand type that MRP manages.
Question 7: In MRP, the 'planning horizon' should be at least as long as:
- The average customer order cycle time
- The cumulative lead time of the product with the longest supply chain (Correct answer)
- The fiscal quarter being planned
- The supplier's quoted delivery window
Correct answer: The cumulative lead time of the product with the longest supply chain
The planning horizon must cover the cumulative lead time of the most complex product so that all lower-level components can be planned in time.
MRP Material Requirements Planning Fundamentals 2
What is the primary input that drives the MRP explosion process?