Who is a Manufacturer?
A manufacturer is a business entity that is involved in the production of finished goods from raw materials. A manufacturer could be a person or a registered company. Traditionally, he starts the supply chain of any products and distributes it to wholesalers or retailers as the case might be. He, in most cases, doesn’t have direct contact with his consumers and doesn’t have an effective medium of getting feedback from his consumers, so he produces with the wholesaler and retailer in mind. He assumes that once his products can meet the needs of the distributors and have them come back, then the consumers’ needs are being catered. But with the advent of e-commerce, manufacturers can now build a viable link with their consumers, know them, and engage them directly. With E-commerce Manufacturing, manufacturers even assume the position of retailers and wholesalers, distributing directly to consumers.
A manufacturer produces in large-scale and is required to meet specific standards in production as his products will get tested for quality assurance. This move is to uphold consumer protection and ensure the utility that consumer derives from the products they purchase.
When did it start?
Of course, manufacturing is as long as the history of man, but e-commerce manufacturing is a pretty recent trend. It emerged after e-commerce Retail. Despite the brevity of its existence, it has grown immensely. The benefit affords manufacturers are quite innumerable, and this is the reason it has become widespread. It takes the form of B2B and sometimes B2C but mostly B2B. It started with the rise of smartphones.
Forms of E-commerce Manufacturing platforms
Brand platforms
Few of the manufacturing companies that decide to leverage e-commerce decide to own their brand platforms. This majorly makes them a producer and distributor of their pen products, where they can combine both B2C and B2B distribution. What some e-commerce manufacturing companies do is to partner or merge with businesses or personnel that take up the distribution part of the production process.
Marketplace
E-commerce manufacturing companies in this sector do not invest in owning a brand platform. They take their products on electronic distribution platforms like Etsy, Amazon, or eBay for sales. These platforms are called online marketplaces, where different distributors come to display their wares.
Multichannel e-commerce manufacturing
Some manufacturing companies engage both forms of e-commerce manufacturing. This way, they can increase brand awareness and increase sales at a higher rate.
Types of Manufacturing
There are three ways to do manufacturing. There is the Make-to-Stock (MTS), Make-to-Assemble (MTA), and Make-to-Order (MTO).
Make-to-Stock (MTS)
This type of manufacturing process requires that the manufacturer produces in bulk to meet the needs of its several customers. It works well in a manufacturing model that embraces mass production.
Make-to-Order (MTO)
The make to order manufacturing works for customizable products, so production occurs after a customer places an order.
Make-to-Assemble (MTA)
This method combines features of both MTO and MTS. Here, some part of the production would have been executed in pieces, while the final coupling will occur when an order is placed.