What's the Point of a Factory?

Theory of the firm explains why a corporation should bring something in house or not. Ronald Coase wrote about this and he quantified how we think about what makes it worth having a firm to begin with. Imperfect information makes it difficult for you to rely on a cadre of rotating freelancers getting your work done. A restaurant can't outsource the chicken Kiev to a freelancer down the street because when you need the chicken Kiev, you need it now.