production lines
"When Sears contracts with a manufacturer to make "Kenmore" appliances the plant/production is nothing but Kenmore, for that particular run or even in some cases plant."
That may be true, but I doubt it. I can't imagine that WP doesn't have the ability to run a Whirlpool washer and a Kenmore washer on the same line the way Ford can build a Ford Taurus and a Mercury Sable on the same production line. Just a matter of getting the right parts to the line at the right time. This would include building BOL, MOL, and TOL models on the same line, the equivalent of adding options to cars as they are built. It amazes me that the car companies can keep all that stuff coordinated, and I'm sure the appliance companies have copied them.