Comparisons between drum–buffer–rope and material requirements planning: a case study

Abstract

Drum–Buffer–Rope (DBR) is an alternative approach to manufacturing planning and control that is not as formally tested as Material Requirements Planning (MRP) systems which have traditionally been around for years. Yet, some reports indicate very good performance for DBR and the associated use of synchronous manufacturing principles. But how do these systems compare and relate to one another? Based on our experiences of studying a Bearing Manufacturing Company that actually made the transition from an MRP system to a DBR system, we conduct simulation-based experiments in this paper with the objective of providing a more formal comparison between these two systems than what has been offered in prior literature. To our knowledge, this is the only study of its kind that uses a real-world setting to evaluate key differences and convergence points between comprehensive MRP and DBR systems. Our results show that even though the MRP and DBR systems position inventory differently and provide different dynamic responses to customer demand, there are several operating policies that can be implemented in either system. While the DBR performance in our simulation model was clearly superior to a nominal MRP implementation, we show that even within the constraints of the structural design of MRP system, policy modification based on DBR principles can significantly reduce these performance differences. This finding has an important implication for practising managers who need not necessarily switch from a MRP system to a DBR type of a system (as was done by our case-study firm) in order to take advantage of attractive features of the DBR system. Future researchers can use our study to understand more fully how these Structural Design and Operating Policy differences can be further exploited to implement unique systems that combine the best features of both DBR and MRP systems.