The PERA Master Planning Handbook and associated Methodology was developed in several stages.
First, the CIM Reference Model Committee of the International Purdue Workshop on Industrial Computer Systems developed the original CIM Reference Model. This team published their results in "A Reference Model for Computer Integrated Manufacturing" edited by Theodore J. Williams.
This team also produced the first version of a Master Planning Manual. This manual was only made available to members of the CIM Reference Model Committee and their respective organizations.
In the process of developing and attempting to apply the initial manual, it became clear that significant changes were necessary in the model and in the manual, in order to facilitate wide use in Industry. A second version of the Master Planning Manual was then undertaken by a smaller group including Ted Williams, Hong Lee, and Gary Rathwell, who restructured the manual, and reduced its volume by approximately half.
Finally, the current version of the Master Planning Handbook was developed by Ted and Gary, and with this version, the Handbook and associated PERA materials were made available on the World Wide Web. From this point onward, the Handbook became a "Living Document", with changes made as required to address new technology or to facilitate ease of use.