MRPeasy Materials Shortage: Plan Purchases Correctly
MRPeasy materials shortage purchase planning
Also searched as
- MRPeasy how to see what to buy
- MRPeasy shortage manufacturing order
- MRPeasy planning lead time purchase order
- MRPeasy booked vs available stock
Short answer
MRPeasy compares the demand from customer orders and manufacturing orders with available stock, booked stock and open purchase orders, and flags what is short. To act on it, review the shortages, confirm item lead times and minimum stock levels, then create purchase or manufacturing orders and re-check planned dates.
Applies to: MRPeasy cloud manufacturing ERP, current web application. Menu names may vary slightly by plan and version.
How to turn shortages into purchases
- 1Open the customer order or manufacturing order showing a shortage and read which items lack coverage and for which dates.
- 2Open each short item and compare in stock, booked (reserved) and expected quantities. Note what is booked by other orders.
- 3Check the item's supplier lead time, minimum order quantity and lot size. Wrong values here produce wrong planned dates.
- 4Create a purchase order for the shortage, selecting the supplier and checking the expected delivery date against the production start.
- 5For made-in items, create a manufacturing order for the sub-assembly instead, and make sure its own routing and bill of materials are correct.
- 6Set a minimum stock level on frequently used items so MRPeasy suggests replenishment before they become urgent shortages.
- 7Receive purchase orders promptly and into the right stock location so available quantities stay accurate.
- 8Revisit planned dates after changes. Moving one order can change coverage for others.
Available, booked and expected
The three numbers you need are in stock, booked and expected. In stock is physical quantity. Booked is quantity reserved by orders and manufacturing jobs. Expected is quantity arriving through open purchase orders and manufacturing orders. A shortage exists when demand on a date exceeds what stock plus expected supply can cover by that date.
This is why dates matter as much as quantities. An item may be covered in total, but too late for the production start. A purchase order with a delivery date after the manufacturing order's start still leaves the order flagged. Fix the date, the supplier, or the schedule.
Lead times drive everything
MRPeasy's planning uses lead times on items and routings to place orders in time. If a bought part has a lead time of two days in the system but the supplier really needs three weeks, every plan looks fine until the parts are late. Audit lead times for your top parts by actual receipt history, not by supplier brochures.
For manufactured items, the planned duration comes from the routing operations and work station capacity. Unrealistic cycle times or missing work stations shorten planned dates and make shortages appear later than they should.
Minimum stock and purchase suggestions
Minimum stock levels let the system flag items that fall below a threshold even when no order demands them, which is useful for consumables and fast movers. Set them from consumption and supplier lead time: roughly average usage during the lead time plus a buffer you can justify.
Do not set minimums on everything. Over-flagging teaches planners to ignore the list. Reserve it for parts where a stockout stops production or where lead time is long.
Common data problems behind false shortages
False shortages come from bills of materials with obsolete lines, wrong quantity per unit, unreceived purchase orders, and stock held in locations the order cannot use. Clean the bill of materials before blaming the planner.
Another source is units: a part bought in boxes and consumed in pieces without a correct conversion creates demand or supply off by the pack size. Check conversion on the item before buying.
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MRPeasy vs Katana Selection Scorecard
A 10-question fit test that scores how much planning depth and shop floor control your operation needs, to compare MRPeasy and Katana style cloud MRPs.
Common pitfalls
- !Ordering to the shortage quantity while ignoring minimum order quantity or lot size.
- !Trusting default lead times that no one has compared with real receipts.
- !Leaving received purchase orders open so expected supply is double counted.
- !Reading total quantity and missing that supply arrives after the production start date.
- !Fixing shortages by adjusting stock rather than fixing the bill of materials or receipt that caused them.
How an ERP-grounded AI assistant handles this
An ERPray-style assistant grounded in a small ERP can list the orders at risk, the items short for each, the booked quantities that explain it and the open purchase orders with their dates, then draft the purchase orders for a planner to approve. It shows the data it read and respects the user's role. If MRPeasy's own planning view already gives you what you need for a small order book, use that.
Frequently asked questions
What does booked mean in MRPeasy?
Booked means quantity reserved for orders or production jobs, so it is no longer free for other demand even though it is still physically in stock. Available quantity is in stock minus booked, which is why free stock can look lower than on hand.
Why is an item flagged short when I have a purchase order open?
Most often the purchase order's expected date is later than the demand date, the quantity does not cover the full need, or the order is in the wrong state. Compare the delivery date with the manufacturing start and adjust supplier or schedule.
How should I set minimum stock levels?
Base them on average consumption during the supplier lead time plus a justified safety buffer. Apply them to parts that stop production or have long lead times, not to every item, so the replenishment list stays meaningful.
Can MRPeasy plan sub-assemblies automatically?
It plans from the bill of materials and routings, but you still decide and create the purchase or manufacturing orders in the system. Verify in your plan how much is suggested versus created automatically before relying on it.
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Stuck on MRPeasy?
Talk to engineers who work inside MRPeasy every week, and who build private AI that answers these questions from your own ERP data.
Keep exploring
Free tools
- MRPeasy vs Katana Selection ScorecardA 10-question fit test that scores how much planning depth and shop floor control your operation needs, to compare MRPeasy and Katana style cloud MRPs.
- SAP Business One Production Component Shortage SQL GeneratorPick a status, due date and warehouse and get a query that shows components short against on-hand stock for open production orders.
- Epicor Job Material Shortage SQL GeneratorBuild a query that lists unissued job material for released, open jobs so planners can chase shortages.
ERP fixes and how-tos
- MRPeasy API documentation: authentication, endpoints and examplesHow the MRPeasy REST API works: generate a key, authenticate, call endpoints for orders, items and stock, page results with ranges, and handle rate limits.
- MRPeasy Custom FieldsHow to approach custom fields in MRPeasy on items, customer orders and BOMs: where to add them, what they can drive, reporting limits and API alternatives.
- How to Compare Planned vs Actual Cost in MRPeasyHow to compare planned and actual cost on MRPeasy manufacturing orders, find why a product cost looks wrong, and trace material, labour and overhead variance.
Guides
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- AI-Powered BOM Optimization for Infor SyteLineOptimize SyteLine Bill of Materials with AI. Automated BOM validation, cost rollups, and engineering change management for Infor CloudSuite Industrial.
AI on your ERP
- AI for MRPeasy Manufacturing ERPAdd private AI to MRPeasy: natural-language answers over production, inventory, and lot traceability data, plus MRP exception and PO follow-up agents, without a public AI reading your data.
- AI for Sage 100 Small Manufacturers: Practical Answers From Work Orders, BOMs and InventoryPractical AI for small manufacturers on Sage 100: ask about work orders, BOMs, stock and shortages in plain English via ODBC or SQL, kept on a small server.
Integrations
- How to add AI agents to MRPeasyHow to add AI agents to MRPeasy using its REST API: PO expediting, shortage triage and quote drafting, with human approval before any write-back.
- How to add an AI chatbot to MRPeasyAdd an AI chatbot on top of MRPeasy for staff and customers: order status, stock and lead-time answers grounded in API data, with a private-model option.
Software
- MRPeasyMRPeasy is a cloud MRP and ERP system for small manufacturers. See its modules, integrations, limitations and alternatives for shortlisting.
- KatanaKatana is a cloud inventory and manufacturing system for small product makers. See its modules, integrations, limits and alternatives before you choose.