Production planning and control system developments in Germany

Discusses briefly the impact of MRP on UK manufacturing industry in the context of the next generation of developments. Draws a contrast with production planning and control systems in Germany which derive shopfloor control through different architecture of business control systems. Presents the state of these developments in Germany as analysed by a leading academic institution (the FIR at Aachen University of Technology). Compares this with UK developments, as seen by the Liverpool short-term scheduling group, which recently has analysed production planning scheduling practice in a range of different companies across various industry types. Offers the view that future PPC systems will be based around simple "core logic" with tailored subsystems, possibly built by manufacturing companies themselves.