AN EMPIRICAL-INVESTIGATION OF ENTERPRISE-WIDE INTEGRATION OF MRPII

The changing requirements of manufacturing exert considerable pressure on manufacturing resources while competition is intensified as a resu lt of increasing new entrants into the market. The marketplace has con sequently been turned into a ''battlefield''. The competition for mark et share has driven improvement initiatives since the 1960s. The exten sion of MRPII to integrate with other advanced manufacturing technolog ies (AMT) that were hitherto isolated is considered as one of the init iatives embarked on by manufacturers in search of improved performance . Reports a major study of these initiatives and the associated benefi ts. Reviews integration and extension of MRPII and presents the state- of-the art in the UK companies from a survey of 120 manufacturing ente rprises. Discusses some empirical findings about the benefits of integ ration and extension of MRPII with other AMTs.