Off-the-shelf - definition and meaning - Market Business News

An off-the-shelf item is something that is available now. The seller has it in stock. In other words, the seller does not need to make it specifically to ... Off-the-shelf–definitionandmeaning Anoff-the-shelfitemissomethingthatisavailablenow.Thesellerhasitinstock.Inotherwords,thesellerdoesnotneedtomakeitspecificallytosuitaparticularpurpose.Itistheoppositeoftailor-made,customized,orbespoke.Anotherexampleofatermwiththeoppositemeaningiscustommade. Putsimply;thesellerhasnotcustomizedit.Itisreadyforanybodytousewithoutmodification. Whentalkingaboutclothes,weusetheterms off-the-pegorreadytowear. Inthecomputersoftwareworld,thetermreferstoafactory-packagedproduct.Itisavailableforsaleeithertothegeneralpublicorcompanies.Itistheoppositeofcustomsoftware. BusinessDictionary.comhasthefollowingdefinitionfortheterm: “Commerciallyproduced,ready-made,standardized,andregularlyavailableequipment,goods,parts,software,etc.” Offtheshelfisalsotheoppositeofmake-to-order.GermanandJapanesecarmakeruseamake-to-ordersystem.Theydonotmakethefinishedproductbeforeacustomer’sordercomesin. COTSintheUnitedStates WeoftenusethetermCOTS,whichstandsforCommercialOff-The-Shelf. TheUSgovernmentdefines‘COTS’asaformaltermforcommercialproductsorservices.Theyareavailableinthemarketplace,andthegovernmentcanbuyandusethemundergovernmentcontract. MicrosoftCorporation,forexample,isaCOTSsoftwareprovider. Weselloff-the-shelfproductsinbulk.Theyareone-size-fits-allgoods. Off-the-shelfcompany Beforeelectroniccompanyformationsbecamecommon,off-the-shelfcompanieswerepopular. Theywerecompaniesthatformationagentswouldregisterintheirownname.Theagentswouldthentransferthemtotheircustomers’names. Theywerecommonwhenpeoplehadtoregistercompaniesonpaper,ratherthanelectronically. Companyformationagentskeptlistsofcompaniesthatcustomerscouldchoose.Whentheychoseone,theagentswouldtransferthemtothenewowner. Inmostcountriestoday,youcanformanewcompanyelectronically.Forexample,intheUK,peoplesubmitapplicationstoCompaniesHouseandhaveanewcompanywithinhours. Creatinganewcompanyyourselfelectronicallyismuchcheaperthanpurchasinganoff-the-shelfone. Trainingcourses Therearemanyonlinetrainingcourses.Someareoff-the-shelfcourses.Inotherwords,peopledesignthemtosatisfythetrainingneedsofmanydifferentbusinesses.Theyaremuchcheaperthanbespokecourses,butmaynotmeetallthetrainingneedsofeachcompany. However,ready-madecoursesarerelativelyfasttodeploycomparedtocustomeLearningsolutions.Theyareidealforprovidingstafftrainingonsubjectswith‘genericcontent’suchassafety,environment,soft,skills,andtechnology/IT. Accordingtoblog.commlabindia.com: “[Anoff-the-shelfeCourse)savestime,asyoudon’thavetospendtimetodevelopthecourse.Herethedesign,development,andQA/testingishandledbythevendor.” Video–Bespokevs.off-the-shelfsoftware Companiesfrequentlyfinditdifficulttodecidewhethertogoforbespokeoroff-the-shelfsoftware.   Share Search