Pressure on the manufacturing industry is increasing. Engineering capacity is stretched, margins are evaporating, lead times are climbing, and skilled technical people are becoming harder to find. At the same time, customers expect more customization, delivered faster and at a competitive price.
For a growing number of companies, one question is now on the table: how do we keep our operations manageable without losing our capacity to innovate?
According to many CTOs and technical directors, the answer lies in a single strategic choice: Configure to Order (CTO).
At the event The Future of Manufacturing on 22 January in Eindhoven, specialists from Cadac Group will show why CTO is not an IT project, but a fundamental transformation of how manufacturers work.
Manufacturing is at a tipping point
The challenges are familiar to virtually every CTO in manufacturing:
- Engineering structurally lags behind sales
- Engineers act as expensive order processors
- Projects go into production while engineering is still ongoing
- Errors only surface during installation
- Innovation stalls under operational pressure
On top of that come external factors: an aging workforce, rising energy prices, and international competition. According to Cadac Group, the message is clear: anyone who keeps working the way they did ten years ago won't make it through the next ten.
What is Configure to Order (CTO) really?
Configure to Order is often misunderstood. It is not software, not a configurator you simply "buy off the shelf," and not a mass-production model.
CTO is a strategy in which you:
- break products down into modular building blocks
- structure repeatable choices
- reuse digital product data intelligently
- connect sales, engineering, and production
The goal: delivering customer-specific solutions with the efficiency of standardization.
In practice, this means a large part of the sales process can flow directly into production — without new engineering.
CTO, ETO, and DTO: not a black-and-white story
Almost no manufacturer is 100% Configure to Order. In practice, there is always a mix:
- Configure to Order (CTO) – fully configurable
- Engineer to Order (ETO) – partly custom
- Design to Order (DTO) – fully unique
The key is not in choosing one model, but in recognizing where repetition occurs. Cadac observes that at many companies, 70–80% of the work is repetitive, yet it is thought through from scratch every time.
This is not a lack of willingness — it's a consequence of poor structure.
The hidden waste in engineering
A sobering insight from practice:
- On average, half a working week per employee is lost to searching, coordinating, and correcting
- 80% of all recorded information is used only once
For CTOs, this is a warning sign. Not just because of the costs, but above all because of the lost potential for innovation. Engineers stuck in order processing aren't building the future.
Digitalization starts with structure, not with AI
AI is hot. But according to Cadac, it is above all a magnifying glass: it reveals how well (or how poorly) your data is organized.
Without:
- unambiguous product structures
- consistent data
- clear information flows
AI is nothing more than garbage in, garbage out.
That's why genuine digital transformation always starts with product data, processes, and the connections between departments — only then does automation become valuable.
Sales vs. engineering: a classic conflict that CTO resolves
Every CTO recognizes the tension:
- Sales wants to help the customer
- Engineering wants manufacturability and stability
- Production wants predictability
CTO largely eliminates this conflict. By limiting sales choices to what is technically and economically sound, you create calm, speed, and margin improvement — without shortchanging the customer.
Which companies is CTO relevant for?
Cadac Group works mainly with:
- machine builders
- equipment manufacturers
- system integrators
- producers of complete lines
But CTO is also gaining ground in the construction and prefab sector. As in the automotive industry, modular assembly makes infinite variation possible through a single factory.
Not every company needs to change. But companies struggling with declining margins, long lead times, and engineering pressure cannot afford to do nothing.
CTO is just as much a people challenge
One of the biggest failure factors in digitalization?
The human side.
IT can be up and running tomorrow. People cannot.
Successful CTO transformations require:
- buy-in
- change management
- champions within the organization
- respect for existing knowledge
Experienced employees often turn out to be the best ambassadors — provided they are brought along in the story.
What can you expect at the 'Future of Manufacturing' event?
At the event on 22 January, the specialists from Cadac Group will share:
- how to approach CTO strategically
- which roadmap is realistic
- the impact on organization and people
- how to quickly gain insight into potential
Not as a sales pitch, but as awareness. The goal is to plant a seed: "Maybe we should look into this seriously after all."
📍 Location: DomusDela
Conclusion: CTO is not a hype, but a necessity
The future of manufacturing will not be determined by who works the hardest, but by who structures the smartest.
Configure to Order gives CTOs a way to regain control — over processes, people, and innovation.
Anyone who wants to still be relevant in five to ten years must take that first step today.
👉 Call to action (event-focused)
As a CTO or senior technical decision-maker, do you want to understand what Configure to Order could mean for your organization?
Then come to the event The Future of Manufacturing on 22 January in Eindhoven and get inspired by real-world experience from the industry.