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The role of Engineering-to-Order machinery manufacturers in future Cloud Manufacturing supply chains: a business case and a strategic perspective

Abstract The visionary paradigm of Cloud Manufacturing (CM) struggles to take off in the real manufacturing world. This paper develops a single-case study on one fully-operative platform we found in Europe (metal processing business) which can be regarded as representative - and maybe ‘revelatory’ - for the future CM paradigm. The case, with an explanatory purpose, studies the platform success from a resources perspective. The findings show how an Engineer-to-Order (ETO) company, namely the manufacturer of the machineries virtualised, provided a key contribute to build such a system, thanks to its own peculiar resources and competences. Resorting to theoretical available knowledge, the paper suggests that ETO machine manufacturers should consider CM as a strategic option for their competitiveness but – at the same time - they should recognise that their internal resources and competences are not enough to build completely a CM platform on their own.