Development of a Business Process Matrix for Structuring the Implications of Using Configurators in an Engineer-To-Order Environment

Willner, Olga; Rippel, Manuel; Wandfluh, Matthias; Schönsleben, Paul

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-40352-1_35

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…In line with Wacker and Treleven (1986), we consider 244 IJOPM 36,3 standardization of product structures (usually accompanied by both a formation of product families and an introduction of a modular product design) and processes as a prerequisite of design automation. A large body of literature illustrating how product configurators and CAD tools, which are regarded as the main enablers of design automation, can contribute to an automation of MTO and ETO processes exists (Forza and Salvador, 2002;Aldanondo and Vareilles, 2008;Willner et al, 2013;Salvador et al, 2014;Willner and Schönsleben, 2014).…”

Section: Standardization and Automation Of Etomentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the archetypes of engineer-to-order: an empirical analysis

Willner

Powell

Gerschberger

et al. 2016

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize archetypes of engineer-to-order (ETO) to support companies in determining the appropriate degree of design standardization and automation, and as a result achieve superior performance. Products of ETO manufacturers are classified in a 2×2 matrix using annual units sold and engineering complexity as dimensions. Design/methodology/approach – This research adopted a theory refining approach based on multiple case studies. Seven ETO manufacturers from different industry sectors participated in the study. Data collection was primarily based on a series of in-depth interviews supported by observations and archival sources. Findings – The paper proposes four distinct archetypes of ETO (complex, basic, repeatable, and non-competitive) and empirically validates three of them. The organizational structures and processes most suitable for the different archetypes are described, and standardization and automation strategies are linked to the quadrants of the matrix. The matrix can support practitioners in making strategic choices and provides a framework for benchmarking their ETO products and processes. Originality/value – Existing conceptualizations of ETO consider the company as the primary object of investigation, rather than the product or product family. However, companies often have different product families demanding different strategies. Also, there is little or no focus on the engineering perspective. The authors move the engineering perspective to the center of investigation and identify a set of standardization and automation strategies for different types of ETO products.

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Section: Standardization and Automation Of Etomentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the archetypes of engineer-to-order: an empirical analysis

Willner

Powell

Gerschberger

et al. 2016

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…The findings indicate that employee understanding of the offering can be improved through productization and the commercial and technical perspectives. This involves customer requirements, and specifications [27], and providing means for knowledge reuse [8]. The ETO business is challenged by unnecessary unique part numbers, bills-ofmaterials, and production routings [1].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many times, the success of reuse is dependent upon the designer's knowledge and experience of the previous designs [7], [9]. In addition, the sales need to transform the customer requirements into specifications and communicate them to other functional areas of the company [27]. It may be that most of the customer needs could be met by a few basic product variations [13].…”

Section: A Productization-related Challenges In Eto Businessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commercial and Technical Productization for Design Reuse in Engineer-to-Order Business

Mustonen

Härkönen

2024

IEEE Trans. Eng. Manage.

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In the engineer-to-order (ETO) business, companies provide customer value by customizing the products according to the customers' needs in a project-like manner. As a result, the number of individual product designs tends to proliferate, causing challenges in company operations, and product portfolio and product lifecycle management. In addition, if the company's product offering is not well productized, using the ETO model may further lead to poor understanding of the offering, deficient reuse of previous designs, and challenges in sales and making offers. A qualitative multiple case study was conducted to analyze the productization challenges of four ETO companies. On the basis of the challenges and the previous literature, a generic model for commercial and technical productization in ETO business was constructed and further tested in the companies. The model utilizes the logic of commercial and technical product structures. The product structure logic is linked to four different scales of product development processes to address different types of customer requests based on the complexity of the modification that the request necessitates. The model may support clarifying the product offerings of ETO companies to improve their design reuse, sales, and making offers. Further, the ETO order-related decision-making can be linked to product portfolio management targets and company strategy.

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“…The Fig 1 shows a typical ETO business process in ETO companies (DTO stands for design-to-order which is used as a synonym of ETO). The sales phase, including quoting, is followed by the receipt of the customer's order, followed in turn by design, production and delivery [13]. We can notice that at different stages, specific requests are generated by the ETO process that must be elaborated by a parallel ETO Enabling Process, which in turn delivers know-how, represented by immediate solutions to the requests and permanent lessons learnt.…”

Section: Eto Enabling Processmentioning

confidence: 99%