In this guide 6 sections
Make to stock suits attachments with steady demand and few variants, such as loader buckets and pallet forks, while make to order suits the rest. Most makers run a hybrid, building plain frames ahead of the season and then painting and fitting options once the dealer’s order lands. Paint and weld capacity usually set the mix.
What each approach means on an attachment line
Stocking means you build against a forecast and ship from the yard, while building to order means nothing is cut until a dealer or farmer order exists. Between them sits a hybrid. The welded frame is built early, and the paint, hitch pins and bolt-on options wait until a firm order and a delivery date arrive from the dealer.
Attachments differ in variants. A rear blade has a width and a hitch category, while a rotary tiller has working width, blade type, gearbox and shaft. Each choice multiplies the number of finished forms you might hold, and a tiller with four widths, three gearboxes and two blade types already makes twenty four.
Count the variants before you pick a policy. Four finished forms can sit in the yard. Sixty cannot.
- Variants per product: width, hitch category, gearbox, blade or tine type
- Share of orders that ask for a custom option
- Lead time a dealer will accept in the busy weeks
- Floor space for finished units waiting for dispatch
Seasonal demand decides how much you can pre-build
Tillage attachments sell in a short window. A maker who waits for orders in that window meets a queue at the weld bay, misses delivery dates and loses sales to a dealer with stock. One who builds all year on a loose forecast carries unsold steel, idle floor space and tied up paint stock into the off season.
The safe middle is to pre-build sub-assemblies. Frames, tine bars, mounting brackets and gearbox plates do not change with the customer’s choice, so build them in the quiet months and hold only the choices that vary. Those wait for the order.
Last season’s dispatch is your best forecast. Plot it against the dealer orders you received. The gap between the two shows how much demand you could have served from stock and how much a long queue at the weld bay cost you.
Paint and weld capacity are the real bottlenecks
Most attachment plants have one paint booth and a handful of weld stations, and whatever policy you choose, every unit must pass through both before fitting and loading. Booth time sets the dates. Ignore it and a make to order plan promises dates the plant cannot meet in the peak weeks, when every dealer wants delivery together.
Shot blasting, primer, cure time and topcoat each take a slot, and a batch of eight identical units uses the booth far better than eight single colour changes. It argues for stocking the common colours.
Give each order three dates, one each for weld, paint and fitting, and watch the paint date closely because when it slips every later date slips with it.
- Weld hours per unit at each station
- Booth slots per day and colour change time
- Cure or drying time before fitting
- Gearbox and bought-in parts lead time
Dealer stock holding shifts the risk
Some dealers carry the cost of unsold units on their own yard, and they expect the maker to supply fast movers within a few days of a call. Others hold nothing. Know each dealer’s habit, region by region.
Dealers with a big yard and a loyal farm customer base can hold a few fast movers through the whole season without strain. Small dealers order against a farmer’s deposit. Your policy should follow this split.
Track dealer stock and sell-out where you can. Without it, you build blind.
- Units each dealer holds by model
- Sell-out per dealer in the last season
- Orders placed against a farmer deposit
- Returns or exchanges after the season
Choose a split and review it each season
List the models you stock, the ones you build to order and the ones you semi-build, and keep the list to one page. Share it with sales so that promises made on the phone match what the plant can deliver in the peak weeks.
Review the list after each season. A model that sold out twice may deserve stock, and a model that sat unsold should move to order before the next forecast is drawn up. Update the sheet first.
Stock or order decision sheet
Each model gets one row. Columns cover variant count, seasonal peak weeks, weld hours, booth slots, last season’s dispatch and the chosen policy of stock, semi-built or order. A last column holds the review date.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can one plant run both make to order and make to stock?
Yes, and most do. Plain, fast moving models are built ahead of the season, while options and custom widths wait until a confirmed dealer order exists. Give the plant separate job types for stock and for orders so the two never compete for the same weld slot or the same booth slot.
How do we decide which models to stock?
Start with dispatch history. Models that sold in every region with few variants are the first candidates, provided weld and paint capacity can build them in the quiet months.
What goes wrong when we stock too many variants?
Unsold units tie up yard space, steel and paint, and a later design change leaves old stock to rework before it can be sold. Colour and option choices pile up fast.
Does a dealer need to hold stock for this to work?
Not always. A dealer who orders against a farmer’s deposit suits make to order, while a dealer with a big yard suits stocked fast movers. Mixing both by region is common.