On demand
On Demand is an addition to the term for services , goods or the like, which is intended to indicate the prompt fulfillment of requirements or inquiries. The on-demand systems and processes must be flexible, as they are often subject to real-time requirements. In order to provide the planned service, they need full access to the necessary resources. They are therefore more efficient and more highly integrated under normal conditions than systems that do not immediately produce a comparable end product.
On-demand systems in production, for example in book printing, mean that customers / buyers have controlled access to the production system (in the example a corresponding book printing system). This is accompanied by a reduction in the storage of the finished product, in the best case to zero. This is particularly advantageous if a very limited set of raw materials can be used to produce a large number of different products or product variants: there is no need to keep the different finished products or variants in stock.
The addition "On-Demand" is sometimes used inflationarily because it has a positive connotation - something is faster, immediate, more flexible, etc. This has been recognized by marketing experts who also use the addition for systems or processes in which it is not possible to identify what special happens there directly “on request” or where on-demand behavior has always been a matter of course. For example, a ticket machine delivers the desired ticket “on demand”, which is a matter of course. It is therefore necessary to check in individual cases whether a so-called “on-demand” system or process meets the requirements and really has the positive properties associated with the addition of the term.