Read my lips--no more late deliveries

Over 70,000 materiel requirements planning (MRP) and manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) systems have been implemented in this country in the last 20 to 30 years. Yet the question many of the companies who own these systems are asking is, "Was it worth it?" Less than a third of the companies are answering in the affirmative. Two key differences between the satisfied and the not-so-satisfied companies are (1) support to the user community and (2) management involvement in the day-to-day use of the system. Without these two items, the improvements brought about by an MRP or MRP II system will most likely be mediocre at best.