EVALUATION OF VENDOR DOCUMENTATION IN THE ACQUISITION OF MRP AND RELATED MANUFACTURING SOFTWARE

For most managers setting out to acquire a new MRP system for their company, the review and evaluation of product documentation is a critical first step in the acquisition and implementation process. Objective data is needed in order to narrow down the available alternatives. This study investigates how vendors describe and differentiate their products within their promotional literature, and what claims they make for them, Evaluation of documentation covering 69 manufacturing software products shows that vendors are (1) targeting products across very broad industry groups, (2) emphasizing service-related attributes in client relationships, but (3) are ignoring implementation issues, and (4) are failing to provide explicit advice to prospective users on potential costs and benefits.