Which process determines in detail the labor and machine resources needed to complete a production task; inputs are open orders and planned orders; checks across all time periods?

• A. Capacity requirements planning (CRP)
• B. Capacity planning
• C. Cellular manufacturing
• D. Chase production method

Answer: (A)

Capacity requirements planning focuses on translating the planned production into the exact labor and machine resources needed, period by period. It takes the open orders already released to production and the planned orders generated by MRP, then builds a time-phased load for every work center. By examining every time period, it reveals where capacity is insufficient or overutilized and guides how to adjust—such as rescheduling, overtime, or acquiring more resources—so the plan is feasible across the entire horizon.

Other approaches are broader or address different concerns: capacity planning tends to be higher-level and longer-term, not detailing per-period resource loads; cellular manufacturing focuses on organizing the shop floor into cells; and the chase production method is a production strategy that modulates output flow rather than detailing exact capacity requirements across time.