Abstract: Production planning and control systems have always been an important tool for improving the effectiveness of manufacturing organizations, therefore, there has been steady evolution, innovations, view points and approaches in such systems. These systems may be crucial or may give new opportunities for companies struggling to meet higher customer expectations and overcome keen competition. This is applicable for the companies in developed as well as developing countries. Nowadays, there are three main approaches for production planning these are MRP-type systems, OPT and JIT. MRP-type systems which have engaged the interest of researchers and practitioners alike. These systems have been studied and widely adopted in industrial environments of most of Western countries, some of recently developed Far East countries and some of less developed countries. Iraqi industrial companies not adopted any of these advanced planning systems for many reasons which badly affected the ability of these companies to withstand and resist the wind of competition in the market and disability of its products to cross the border, thus, it was limited for local consumption. Generally, the studies which are concerned with adopting these systems in Iraqi industries are limited in few academic studies and their results often conflicts each other. Hence, the present study is carried out from the view of industrial engineering and operational research in order to satisfy the needs of Iraqi industrial companies for a scientific study in the subject of production planning and control to improve their performance. It is recommended to adopt MRP-type systems up to MRP II while there are no reasonable reasons found for adopting ERP systems in Iraqi manufacturing industries in the short and medium terms. The requirements for successful implementation of MRP-type systems are studied and identified.