Build to order

Build to order (BTO) and sometimes referred to as make to order or made to order (MTO), is a production approach where products are not built until a confirmed order for products is received. BTO is the oldest style of order fulfillment and is the most appropriate approach used for highly customized or low volume products.

Overview

This approach is considered good for highly configured products, e.g. automobiles,bicycles, computer servers, or for products where holding inventories is very expensive, e.g. aircraft.

In an automotive context, BTO is a demand driven production approach where a product is scheduled and built in response to a confirmed order received for it from a final customer. The final customer refers to a known individual owner and excludes all orders by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), national sales companies (NSC), dealers or point of sales, bulk orders or other intermediaries in the supply chain. BTO excludes the order amendment function, whereby forecast orders in the pipeline are amended to customer requirements, as this is seen as another level of sophistication for a build to stock (BTS) system (also known as build to forecast (BTF)).

Build to order (HDB)

Build To Order (abbrev: BTO; Chinese: 预购组屋制度) is a Housing & Development Board (HDB) flat allocation system that offers flexibility in timing and location for owners buying a New HDB flats in Singapore. Eligible buyers planning to shift into a new HDB apartment in the near future, can apply for apartments in their preferred location from specific sites launched. Tender for construction will be called only if the number of applicants is at least 70% of the number of apartments in a specific contract (50% since 2011), otherwise, the project is not built.

The waiting time for new flat applicants under the old Registration for Flats System (RFS) is relatively short because flats are built ahead of demand. In comparison, the new BTO system requires a waiting period of about 3-4 years instead as such a system removes the need for the government to make projections ahead of demand. For eligible flat buyers in urgent need of accommodation, they can ballot for leftover units that are reintroduced into the market, Sales of Balance flats (SBF).