Successful build-to-order strategies start with the customer

MIT Sloan Management Review

Volumn 43, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 74-83

  Holweg, Matthias ^a   Pil, Frits K ^b  

^a CARDIFF UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0037935712     PISSN: 15329194     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (14)

1. See "Gartner Survey Shows U.S. Customers Prefer Concept of Build-to-Order When Buying an Automobile," Feb. 9, 2001, www.gartner.com; and "Fulfilling the Promise: What Future for Franchised Car Distribution?" The ICDP Review (2000), International Car Distribution Programme, www.icdp.net.
2. Y. Monden, "The Toyota Production System - A Practical Approach to Production Management" (Norcross, Georgia: Institute of Industrial Engineers, 1983), 2, 55-67.
3. M. Holweg and D.T. Jones, "The Build-to-Order Challenge: Can Current Vehicle Supply Systems Cope?" in "Manufacturing Operations and Supply Chain Management: The Lean Approach," eds. D. Taylor and D. Brunt (London: Thomson International, 2001), 362-374.
4. H. Mather, "Competitive Manufacturing" (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988), 31-48.
5. For more on the bullwhip effect, see H.L. Lee, V. Padmanabhan and S. Whang, "Information Distortion in a Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect," Management Science 43 (1997): 546-558; and J.W. Forrester, "Industrial Dynamics - A Major Breakthrough for Decision Makers," Harvard Business Review 36 (July-August 1958): 37-66.
6. For more on the bullwhip effect, see H.L. Lee, V. Padmanabhan and S. Whang, "Information Distortion in a Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect," Management Science 43 (1997): 546-558; and J.W. Forrester, "Industrial Dynamics - A Major Breakthrough for Decision Makers," Harvard Business Review 36 (July-August 1958): 37-66.
7. For more on the Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment Committee of the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standards, see www.cpfr.org.
8. See www.mycereal.com.
9. E. Feitzinger and H.L. Lee, "Mass Customization at Hewlett-Packard: The Power of Postponement," Harvard Business Review 75 (January-February 1997): 116-122; and J. Pine, "Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition" (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1993).
10. E. Feitzinger and H.L. Lee, "Mass Customization at Hewlett-Packard: The Power of Postponement," Harvard Business Review 75 (January-February 1997): 116-122; and J. Pine, "Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition" (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1993).
11. The data is for the 1999 models offered in the United Kingdom. For more detail, see M. Holweg and A. Greenwood, "Product Variety, Life Cycles and Rates of Innovation," World Automotive Manufacturing (April 2001): 12-16.
12. In the auto industry, swing plants handle demand variation, and they are typically in countries that have generous policies toward subsidizing worker salaries when plants are not operational. In the textile industry, plants near the customer base (generally higher-wage locales) manage deviations from demand forecasts.
13. That is not unrealistic. Atypical European short-haul flight has nine major pricing categories, which can yield more than 100 ticket prices for the same flight. Thus, two people on the same flight are very likely to pay a different price for the same service.
14. "Gartner Survey," www.gartner.com.