ETO Institute Recognizes the Challenges of the Engineer-to-Order
Manufacturer
A big problem for engineer-to-order (ETO) companies is that they
have many unique requirements that make traditional ERP systems
unsuitable. The engineer-to-order market is relatively small and
the companies themselves also tend to be small. The result is
that the larger ERP software companies are more focused on the
needs of the larger and more numerous repetitive manufacturers.
In the manufacturing software industry the terms are clearly
recognizable. The differences between make-to-stock,
assemble-to-order, make-to-order, and engineer-to-order are
clearly understood.
These distinctions are not so clear for those in manufacturing
evaluating software systems for the first time. There is often a
mismatch in how they describe their business. Companies may
describe themselves as job shops or even make-to-order when they
are really engineer-to-order.
Software vendors do not help the situation. Many vendors don