The evolution of build-to-order supply chain and its implications with selected case studies

With the move of the market power in several industries from sellers to buyers, a new level of customer responsiveness and manufacturing flexibility in needed. As the latest step in the manufacturing evolution, the concept of the build-to-order supply chain evolved to enable companies to have the needed customer responsiveness and manufacturing flexibility. This paper first explores the evolution of manufacturing and the build-to-order supply chain as the latest development, and then examines its implementation within BMW and Dell. We conclude with factors that influence the implementation for other companies and identify trends in the employment of build-to-order.