Use this as a working checklist. Each stage has a gate: do not start the next one until the previous gate is genuinely met.
1. Scope and process
- Written statement of the planning process you intend to run.
- Named executive sponsor and a named day-to-day owner.
- In-scope and explicitly out-of-scope modules documented.
- Success measures defined in numbers (shortage count, on-time delivery, inventory turns).
2. Data preparation
- Item master reviewed: numbering, description standards, units of measure.
- BOMs validated against actual builds for top-volume products.
- Routings and work centers defined with realistic standards.
- Lead times reviewed against receipt history.
- Order policies and safety stock set deliberately per part class.
- Physical inventory counted and reconciled immediately before load.
3. Configuration and pilot
- Core configuration documented with the reason for each setting.
- Conference-room pilot using real orders end to end.
- Exception messages reviewed and understood by planners.
- Reports and queries built for the decisions people make daily.
- Integrations tested with real records, including failure cases.
4. Training and cutover
- Planners trained on MRP logic, not just navigation.
- Floor trained on the exact transactions they will perform.
- Written cutover plan with date, sequence and fallback.
- Open orders, WIP and inventory balances loaded and verified.
- Day-one support coverage agreed.
5. Stabilization (first 90 days)
- Daily exception review with a named owner.
- Fast correction path for data errors found in use.
- Weekly measurement against the success metrics.
- Formal decision point at 90 days: what still needs fixing.