Virtual-Build-to-Order as an order fulfilment model for Mass Customization

Virtual-build-to-order (VBTO) is a form of order fulfilment process in which the producer has the ability to search across the entire pipeline of finished stock, products in production and those in the production plan in order to find the best match for a customer. This paper describes VBTO and identifies the range of operational and performance factors that arise in such systems. Customer satisfaction in a mass customization environment is conceived as being dependent on two factors – aversion to waiting and aversion to specification compromise. The behaviour and performance of a VBTO system is studied by simulation and it is shown that the ability to reconfigure products mid-pipeline can substantially improve performance.