Measuring Agility and Resilience in Engineer-to-Order Contexts

Engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturing is a production strategy that has recently gained interest since it provides products specified to unique customer requirements. Amid the conditions of high customisation, project-based approach, and complex supplies, agility and resilience emerge as critical capabilities. However, methods for measuring these capabilities remain under-explored. This study investigates key performance indicators (KPIs) for evaluating agility and resilience in ETO manufacturing in terms of capabilities and performance. Based on a systematic literature review, findings indicate that flexibility, speed, and anticipation emerge as shared indicators for both agility and resilience capabilities, emphasising rapid decision-making and adaptive responses to dynamic environments. Regarding performance, while agility is characterised explicitly by indicators measuring its related aspects such as responsiveness, visibility, culture, integration, and customer orientation, there is a lack of resilience performance measurement indicators. Overall, the results provide valuable insights helping to operationalise agility and resilience in manufacturing while indicating the way for future research on comprehensive KPI development in this domain.