Introduction
This study revolves on the entire complex process of supply chain management. Therefore, it would be important early on to establish how international supply chain regulating bodies define what supply chain management is. According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, supply chain management is a framework comprised of all activities from planning down to the execution. Finding available and reasonable suppliers, the process of procuring, and basically everything and every process needed to manufacture and deliver a certain product to the market is technically considered a part of a supply chain. The advent of modern-day technologies has resulted into significant changes in the way how enterprises handle the entire supply chain. Information technologies and revolutionary reforms in the aspect of managing, product designing, finance, and outsourcing all have participated in such process.
There are literally a lot of ways how a business manager and owner can revise existing supply chain management models but most of the time, such variations are based on what the business or the market needs. One of the oldest but still used supply chain management models is the Build to Order approach. In Build to Order, the products are not mass-produced. The volume of production output generally depends on two major factors: the demand for the product, and the capacity of the production lines to manufacture. Build to Order is commonly used in industries that require the production of highly customized and at the same time, low volume commodities, such as in the automobile, furniture, computer, and aircraft production industries.
Background of the Study
We have just mentioned that the Build to Order approach is one of the oldest models used in supply chain management. With the advent of the modern, digital, and information technology-studded era, there has to be some significant changes or updates that have happened in business sectors that implement the Build to Order approach, which justifies the continuous need for risk management evaluation procedures. This is where this proposed research will focus on.
Objectives of the Study
The general objective of this paper is to be able to present a series of case studies wherein the Build to Order approach is being used in the supply chain, and get an updated overview of the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the approach.
Specific Objectives
- Identify key factors that were being considered by Build to Order industries 0 years ago and compare it to the factors being considered by modern-day Build to Order industries.
- Compare the perceptions of former (at least 10 years old) and modern-day Build to Order industries of the effects, both positive and negative, of implementing the approach.
Significance of the Study
Contrary to what common people believe, there is more than just a single strategy that the manufacturing industries rely on to make their products or outputs reach the other end of the supply chain, which are the consumers. Therefore, if there would be one group of people that this study would be significant for, that would be the consumers. The consumers are the ones who are at the end of the supply chain diagram and what we have to consider here is that the main goal of the BTO approach is to enable the factories to deliver the customized output that the customers requested for. By performing an updated review of the BTO sector, readers of the paper who are, at the same time, consumers could increase their awareness of what the BTO really is, and whether they are getting what they are paying for, from companies who utilize this approach. This study will also prove to be significant for business managers and owners who implement the BTO approach. What they will most likely get is an updated overview of the entire BTO industry internationally and which could possibly arouse their awareness of the steps they could take to improve the efficiency and productivity of their BTO plants. On a macro scale, the study will also be of significance to the entire national economy because in the end, it is the interaction between manufacturers, sellers, and customers that nurture an economy.
Research Methodology
This research strategy that will be used for this paper will be a case series. Case series lay just a tier above the editorials and expert opinions in the hierarchies of evidence. It is actually one tier from the bottom of the levels of evidence pyramid. However, this paper will focus on more than a single case study, which technically makes it a case series. The case studies will focus on any particular organization that uses the BTO approach in their manufacturing plants and the various ways how they adapt and amend the approach according to their company or clients’ needs. By the end of every case study, all data will be analyzed for the researchers to be able to draw an evidence-based conclusion regarding the most recent updates in the application of BTO.
Population and Sampling
The study will use the business owners or managers of companies or organizations who rely on the BTO approach in delivering the commodities to the customers. They will be the focus of the case studies and the discussion and analysis sections of this paper. Business owners or managers of any company or organization that do not implement this approach are automatically excluded from short-list of subjects.
References
Ilies, R., & Muresan, A. (2005). Best Practices on Improving the Supply Chain Management System. Risoprint Publishing House.
Jayaram, J., Tan, K., & Nachiappan, S. (2010). Examining the Interrelationships between Supply Chain Integration Scope and Supply Chain Management Efforts. International Journal of Production Research.
Lindgreen, A., Vanhamme, J., Raaij, E., & Johnston, W. (2013). Go Configure: The Mix of Purchasing Practices to Choose for your Supply Base. University of California, Berkeley.
Machowiak, W. (2012). Risk Management - Unappreciated Instrument of Supply Chain Management Strategy. Science of Journal Logistics.
Smirnov, A., Shilov, N., & Kashevnik, A. (2008). Developing a Knowledge Management Platform for Automobile Build to Order Production Network. Human Systems Management.
Van, L., & Martinez, A. (2012). Using OR to adapt Supply Chain Management Best Practices to Humanitarian Logistics. International Transactions in Operational Research.
