Capacity Requirements Planning
Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP) is the manufacturing planning step that compares capacity required by the MRP-driven production plan with capacity available at work centers, machines, or labor resources to determine whether the schedule is executable. It is typically performed after MRP, using routings, standards, schedules, and work-center calendars to translate planned orders into detailed load by period.
On the shop floor, CRP turns planned and open shop orders into a load profile by work center, showing whether cutting, welding, assembly, packing, or inspection stations are overloaded in a specific week or shift. In warehousing, it validates that inbound material flow, staging, receiving labor, and release timing can support the production plan without starving a bottleneck or flooding a constrained area. MRP determines what materials are needed and when; CRP checks whether labor, machine hours, and calendar availability exist to execute those orders. A typical workflow loads planned orders, explodes routing times by operation, converts quantities into hours, and compares against available capacity. Overloads trigger rescheduling, lot splitting, added shifts, subcontracting, or master schedule revision. CRP confirms the material plan can be executed with resources on hand and highlights where the plan must be adjusted before release.
What is the difference between CRP and RCCP?
CRP is more detailed and works at the work-center and operation level, while rough-cut capacity planning (RCCP) is higher level and less granular. CRP can also consider scheduled receipts and on-hand inventory when calculating required capacity.
What inputs does CRP need to be accurate?
CRP requires planned orders, open shop orders, routings, standard times, work center calendars, shifts, setup and run times, lot sizes, and inventory or receipt data. In documented ERP implementations, these are the central inputs that keep capacity calculations reliable.
What does a CRP overload usually mean operationally?
A CRP overload means required hours in a given bucket exceed available hours at one or more resources, forcing actions such as sequence changes, overtime, alternate routing, subcontracting, lot splitting, or master schedule revision.