“…The number of individualized variants is growing (Bennett and Klug, 2012; a car contains more than 5,000 components, implying a complex tier supplier network (Cani€ els et al, 2013). Electronic data exchange (EDI) is often used for handling information flows between manufacturers and suppliers, either using traditional, costly standards, or more updated web-EDI solutions (Jardini et al, 2015;Bennett and Klug, 2012). Specific project-related material requirements, long contracts, crossfunctional involvement, high cost accounting focus, large supplier bases, modular product configurations, and close collaborations and integration in logistics are also industry characteristics (Hertenstein and Williamson, 2018;Bennett and Klug, 2012;Pereira et al, 2011;Thun and Hoenig, 2011;Schmitz and Platts, 2003).…”