AbstractThis article presents a general multiperiod model of an assemble‐to‐order system with component commonality and proves that its solution is myopic. The model is then endowed with a capacity or storage constraint, and the resulting behavior of optimal policies is investigated. Interestingly, with such constraint, the optimal stocks of product‐specific components can be lower in an assemble‐to‐order system than in a corresponding make‐to‐stock one, a behavior that is impossible in an uncons