IFOP

This is a free source MRP II application.

The download package contains the source code and documentation for the free source of IFOP, a MRP II application. This is a tool developed as a fully integrated and self-contained system. It contains all the necessary functions for handling interrelated functions for production, sales, shipping, EDI, quotations, lot management, quality assurance, product costing, machines and tooling, preventive maintenance, inventory and warehousing, raw materials, purchasing, and accounting. The tool has been developed in OpenVMS COBOL. IFOP has been used and improved through actual use in the industrial fasteners industry in Canada. Though designed and used for a specific industry and a specific company, IFOP is general enough for use in other industries. It is easy to be customized for such uses anyway. Most of the functions are generalized enough for use in other industry verticals.

The download package includes *.TXT and *.COB files. It may be necessary to use a monospaced font (such as Courier) and no word wrap. The *.COB files requires to be compiled with the OpenVMS COBOL compiler. This program is a large one and developers will need an access to a good text editor. Flexible and convenient search features, bookmarks, are some desired features of this editor. A COBOL program in this day and age may look strange. However, one should not forget how this particular program has been proven through actual use in the industry. Even though for one vertical, the MRP related principles do not change from one industry vertical to another. This is a good tool.

Free source code (OpenVMS COBOL) and documentation files of IFOP, a customized MRP II application (Manufacturing Resource Planning). This is a fully integrated and self-contained system, with hundreds of interrelated functions for production, sales, shipping, EDI, quotations, lot management, quality assurance, product costing, machines and tooling, preventive maintenance, inventory and warehousing, raw materials, purchasing, and accounting.
IFOP has been used and improved for many years. It is customized for a manufacturer of industrial fasteners from Ontario, Canada, whose products are used mostly in the North American automotive industry. Although designed for a specific industry and a specific company, IFOP can be useful in many other situations. Some parts are generic in nature and can be incorporated with only a few changes in other applications. And, with a reasonable amount of work, many functions can be adapted for other business needs or other platforms. At the very least, IFOP demonstrates some important programming concepts for developing and maintaining sophisticated, customized business applications.