Management of Supply Chain: X-to-order Concepts vs Make-to-stock Model
In a challenging market, companies’ ability to act faster is considered a basic advantage. From a value chain aspect, when a company cannot change its internal production processes and the external supply streams according to the demand requirements, this may lead to sales reduction or stock left-overs. X-to-order concepts [where X=Α(ssemble), Μ(ake)/Β(uilt) and E(ngineer)], are key types of supply chain planning, where the production process starts after the orders are placed. Those methods have caught the attention of both researchers and businesses because of the advantages they offer in business procedures and the customization of consumers needs. The aim of this paper is to present the framework of supply chain management of the X-to-order concepts in comparison to the make-to-stock model and depict the main differences between these two approaches.