Engineer-to-Order Challenges and Issues: A Systematic Literature Review of the manufacturing industry

Abstract

Companies in engineer–to–order (ETO) manufacturing environments that seek efficiency gains through adopting a mass customisation strategy meet significant challenges. The implementation of the mass customisation (MC) strongly focuses on transitioning from mass production. The purpose of this study is to identify current areas of concern and operational challenges when adopting mass customisation principles in ETO companies. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was carried to evaluate the challenges the Portuguese Industry faces in the moulding companies’ sectors and how they are improving their ability to meet deadlines. The study will look at ways of boosting customer satisfaction by providing unique products at a relatively low cost. The study exposed issues of MC in ETO companies in general, it is critical to achieving more efficient use of resources, workflow, and innovative management methods and approaches to deal with the variability and complexity of this manufacturing system. The competitive pressure to achieve better efficiency and effectiveness in this type of organisation requires constantly searching for new concepts and tools that can be developed and applied. Furthermore, this paper explores the ETO companies' significant difficulties and the technical and scientific solutions used and proposed as its significant contribution, as well as a proposal for future research and development to increase ETO companies' resilience and performance level in managing their value chain and executing operations in response to customer requirements.