Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems

Virtual-Build-to-Order (VBTO) is an emerging order fulfilment system within the automotive sector that is intended to improve fulfilment performance by taking advantage of integrated information systems. The primary innovation in VBTO systems is the ability to make available all unsold products tha...

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Main Authors: Brabazon, Philip G., MacCarthy, Bart L.
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier Science B.V. 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/526/
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author Brabazon, Philip G.
MacCarthy, Bart L.
author_facet Brabazon, Philip G.
MacCarthy, Bart L.
author_sort Brabazon, Philip G.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Virtual-Build-to-Order (VBTO) is an emerging order fulfilment system within the automotive sector that is intended to improve fulfilment performance by taking advantage of integrated information systems. The primary innovation in VBTO systems is the ability to make available all unsold products that are in the production pipeline to all customers. In a conventional system the pipeline is inaccessible and a customer can be fulfilled by a product from stock or having a product Built-to-Order (BTO), whereas in a VBTO system a customer can be fulfilled by a product from stock, by being allocated a product in the pipeline, or by a build-to-order product. Simulation is used to investigate and profile the fundamental behaviour of the basic VBTO system and to compare it to a Conventional system. A predictive relationship is identified, between the proportions of customers fulfilled through each mechanism and the ratio of product variety / pipeline length. The simulations reveal that a VBTO system exhibits inherent behaviour that alters the stock mix and levels, leading to stock levels being higher than in an equivalent conventional system at certain variety / pipeline ratios. The results have implications for the design and management of order fulfilment systems in sectors such as automotive where VBTO is a viable operational model.
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spelling nottingham-5262020-05-04T20:29:19Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/526/ Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems Brabazon, Philip G. MacCarthy, Bart L. Virtual-Build-to-Order (VBTO) is an emerging order fulfilment system within the automotive sector that is intended to improve fulfilment performance by taking advantage of integrated information systems. The primary innovation in VBTO systems is the ability to make available all unsold products that are in the production pipeline to all customers. In a conventional system the pipeline is inaccessible and a customer can be fulfilled by a product from stock or having a product Built-to-Order (BTO), whereas in a VBTO system a customer can be fulfilled by a product from stock, by being allocated a product in the pipeline, or by a build-to-order product. Simulation is used to investigate and profile the fundamental behaviour of the basic VBTO system and to compare it to a Conventional system. A predictive relationship is identified, between the proportions of customers fulfilled through each mechanism and the ratio of product variety / pipeline length. The simulations reveal that a VBTO system exhibits inherent behaviour that alters the stock mix and levels, leading to stock levels being higher than in an equivalent conventional system at certain variety / pipeline ratios. The results have implications for the design and management of order fulfilment systems in sectors such as automotive where VBTO is a viable operational model. Elsevier Science B.V. 2006-12 Article NonPeerReviewed Brabazon, Philip G. and MacCarthy, Bart L. (2006) Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems. International Journal of Production Economics, 104 (2). pp. 514-524. Mass customization Order fulfillment Simulation VBTO
spellingShingle Mass customization
Order fulfillment
Simulation
VBTO
Brabazon, Philip G.
MacCarthy, Bart L.
Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems
title Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems
title_full Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems
title_fullStr Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems
title_full_unstemmed Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems
title_short Fundamental behaviour of Virtual-Build-to-Order systems
title_sort fundamental behaviour of virtual-build-to-order systems
topic Mass customization
Order fulfillment
Simulation
VBTO
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/526/