No Run of the Mill

This article discusses that the business of engineering has challenges of its own. Engineer-to-order (ETO) differs from make-to-stock or make-to-order businesses primarily in the amount of designing that takes place after a firm receives an order. For either of the two make-to systems, post-order engineering is insignificant. ETO firms depend heavily on engineers and designers inside the order cycle because the machine has to be imagined, then designed and detailed, before it can be built. Handling specialty is a typical ETO manufacturer. It builds lifting and turning equipment used by everyone from automakers in Toronto to stage builders in Las Vegas. Although it makes equipment mostly of a particular kind, no two orders are exactly alike. In order to make a transition from entrepreneurial, family-owned firms to professional ones, ETO companies need to make business information available to employees throughout their organizations.