Analysis of Order Promising process in BTF products with high variability and long manufacturing lead times Application to a machine-tool manufacturer

Abstract

[EN] This paper analyzes issues involved in the negotiation process between customers and companies to reach an agreement on the features, price and delivery of the final product to be. In particular, it is focused on products with high potential for customization and long Manufacturing Lead Times (MLT) which are manufactured to forecast (BTF ¿ Built To Forecast) due to response times demanded by the market are shorter than MLT, as in the case of a machine tool manufacturer used in the study. Alternatives offered to the customer such as substitute or reconfigured products are considered trying to meet Market Response Times (MRT). Through the combined use of simulation and experiment design techniques, different customer and company behaviours during negotiation are evaluated considering several assumptions of Product Variability (PV) and MRT. As a result of the study, effects of each variable analyzed on delivery times of customer orders are presented.