1. An exception report could be run every day that shows part numbers in inventory the value of which is over $50,000,  no demand exists, and there are open PO's to purchase more.  Another one could an exception report that shows any part number called out on the Engineering BOM for an end item that is called out on the Manufacturing BOM for the same end item but in a different quantity.  I could go on and on with dozens of examples. Do you have exception reports in your Operations environment?  Are they the right ones, in your view?  What changes would you make relative to exception reports in your environment?  How is an exception report different from other types of management reports?

2.  What happened next is businesses that didn't really need to run MRP because they didn't make anything wanted systems that integrated all of their business areas, instead of everyone e-mailing Excel spreadsheets around to everyone else and everyone trying to figure out which was the most accurate Excel spreadsheet.  So the software makers like SAP who had built huge organizations and expertise over many decades building ERP systems for manufacturers came the rescue and offered ERP systems to anyone who could come up with the money to pay the sticker price. Class, Does that history help you to understand how MRP and ERP are related?