In this study a decision making framework that can be applied when the make-or-buy issue
arises, has been developed and tested in a real make-or-buy decision making situation. It’s a twophase
model which has in the external environment the trigger for the make-or-buy process. It starts
with three different value disciplines – Customer Intimacy; Product Leadership; and Operational
Excellence, which form the value discipline of the customer (Treacy and Wiedersema, 1997). To the
value disciplines six objectives are associated: Cost; Quality; Variability; Flexibility; Time; and Human
Capital. The objective of variability has been added and is new compared with other models
presented in the literature. According to ElMaraghy (2005), one of the most important priorities of
manufacturing is to have a good level of responsiveness and adaptability to the variety demanded by
the market, remaining profitable and maintaining the levels of quality.