Mitigating Missed Order Due Dates in an Engineer-to-Order Environment: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This research addressed the pressing issue of missed order due dates in the highly dynamic engineer-to-order (ETO) environments of AL DAR Company, a Saudi Arabian ETO manufacturer. Despite the common adoption of ETO approaches in several industries, a significant research gap existed regarding consensus on integrated planning and control systems designed for ETO manufacturing firms. Therefore, this research aimed to address this gap by evaluating the planning and control practices at AL DAR and investigating the impact of implementing a proposed integrated planning and control system on reducing missed order dates in the ETO environment of AL DAR and within the community of practice.

The research methodology combined a pragmatic philosophy and three Action Research Cycles, adopting a blend of data collection methods. These methods included five individual interviews and nine focus groups, with 45 participants instances selected for their extensive experience and diverse roles at AL DAR. Additionally, these qualitative methods were complemented by survey responses from 20 respondents, and statistical analyses were extracted from 147 project documents to enhance the robustness of the findings.

This first research Cycle identified four main characteristics of ETO environments: high customisation, the dynamic nature of its design phase, the complex nature of its procurement phase, and the need for high coordination. Additionally, this Cycle identified challenges in each process of the ETO project execution, from receiving the order to delivering the project to the customer, underscoring the inefficiencies in AL DAR’s processes and its lack of a robust planning and control system.

The second Cycle built on these findings to propose a new integrated planning and control system. This system incorporated elements borrowed from Lean Construction (LC) and traditional project management theories. The main theories or elements adopted were the Pull Planning Theory, the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) principle, the Critical Path Method (CPM), Rolling Wave Planning, and the “5 Whys” technique for root cause analysis. This study challenged conventional approaches and provided a novel perspective on ETO operational efficiency by integrating LC principles with traditional project management theories. The proposed system aimed to address the identified deficiencies and was evaluated against ten Critical Success Factors for effective implementation that emerged from the focus groups and the theoretical insights.

The third and final Cycle implemented and tested the proposed system in a real-world setting. The results showed an enhancement in the estimated delivery time, thus mitigating the missed order due dates by 30%, as suggested by qualitative and statistical analyses pre- and post-implementation of the new system. Although the findings demonstrated the efficacy of the integrated system in addressing the challenges of the ETO environment, the system was further refined based on the implementation outcomes to optimise its performance and applicability.

This research contributes to operations management by providing a practical framework of an integrated and comprehensive planning and control system that mitigates missed order due dates in ETO environments. Additionally, it bridges the gap between academic theories and practical applications, offering valuable insights and a scalable solution for organisations facing similar challenges. However, its single-case design limits generalisability, suggesting avenues for further research with longer durations using diverse ETO environments and stakeholders.