Competitive advantage, customisation and a new taxonomy for non make‐to‐stock companies

TLDR

Existing taxonomies for the non make‑to‑stock sector are inadequate for strategic research, and the sector includes versatile manufacturers that bid competitively on each order and repeat‑business customisers that bid on the first of a series of similar orders. The study proposes a new taxonomy for the non make‑to‑stock sector, enabling like‑with‑like comparison, and introduces two new labels for this industry. Empirical evidence was collected from 22 companies in the UK, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The data support the taxonomy’s structure and reveal insights into competitive advantage and customisation issues in the non make‑to‑stock sector.

Abstract

Presents a new taxonomy for the non make‐to‐stock sector to enable a like‐with‐like comparison, arguing that existing taxonomies within the literature are inadequate for strategic research purposes. Presents empirical evidence which has been collected from 22 companies in three European countries – the UK, Denmark and The Netherlands. The data support the structure of the proposed new taxonomy and provide insights into competitive advantage and customisation issues in the non make‐to‐stock sector. Finally, two new labels for this sector of industry are proposed. "Versatile manufacturing company" is used to describe those manufacturers which are involved in a competitive bidding situation for every order which they receive, customisation by individual order. In contrast, the "Repeat business customiser" may only be in this position for the first of a series of similar orders from a particular customer, customisation by contract.