From MRP to Demand-Driven Material Requirement Planning: An Automatic Production Planning Process Design

The greater volatility, uncertainty, and complexity have become the supply chain planning new normal. A more advanced system is required to address these challenges. Demand-driven materials requirements planning (DDMRP) is considered more sensitive to the fluctuation in demand academically and practically compared to traditional Material Requirement Planning (MRP) systems.
Since the DDMRP introduction in 2011, scientific research has been based mainly on pedagogical case studies rather than a real industrial context. On the other hand, the giant EPR system providers have already embedded the DDMRP in their solutions, and the survey of companies that have implemented the DDMRP shows a significant improvement in the enterprise service level and the reduction of inventory and customer order lead time. The limited DDMRP research on the complex cases and the success stories lead to the research questions: What is the DDMPR adaptability to a complex industry environment in terms of the complex BOM and supply chain network? How to verify the DDMRP concept based on the existing ERP system before deploying the function in the ERP system? This paper aims to present a case study of an industrial company that faces complexity challenges in its product category and supply chain network by designing a new planning process based on the DDMRP theory.