1. Push-flow production planning: MRP

MRP is an industrial management technique that meets the following objectives:

• giving customers the best possible service;

• define a production program ;

• optimize the load/capacity balance resulting from this production program;

• meet deadlines ;

• control production costs.

MRP is no longer just a technique: it has evolved from a supply management system to a production management system, and finally to an integrated industrial management system (increasingly referred to as an "integrated global logistics system" or Supply Chain Management System) (see box).