Production planning systems and their applicability to make-to-order companies

Most of the research in the production planning area has been aimed at the needs of Make-To-Stock (MTS) companies. The make-to-order sector, although constituting an important part of world industry, has received relatively little attention. This neglect may be based on an assumption that the systems developed for MTS firms can also be used by MTO companies. However, the requirements of the two sectors are quite different. This paper sets out to identify these differences and to determine whether the research to date can meet the needs of the MTO sector. Many important application areas are considered, these include production scheduling, capacity control and the setting of delivery dates. Popular production planning approaches, including MRP II, OPT and JIT, are also discussed. It is shown that there is a need for more research to provide production planning systems which have been designed specifically for the MTO sector.