Commonly Used Terms

Assemble-to-order is a production environment where a commodity or service can be assembled after receiving a customer's order. The key components (bulk, semi-finished, intermediate, subassembly, fabricated, purchased, packing, and so on) used in the assembly or finishing process are planned and usually stocked in anticipation of a customer order. Receipt of an order initiates assembly of the customized product. This strategy is useful where many end products can be assemble-based on selecting options and accessories from common components.