Mass Customization

MASS CUSTOMIZATION

Mass Customization is the new paradigm that replaces mass production, which is no longer suitable for today’s turbulent markets, growing product variety, and opportunities for e-commerce.  Mass customization proactively manages product variety in the environment of rapidly evolving markets and products, many niche markets, and individually customized products sold through stores or over the internet.

Mass customizers can customize products quickly for individual customers or for niche markets at better than mass production efficiency and speed. Using the same principles, mass customizers can Build-to-Order both customized products and standard products without forecasts, inventory, or purchasing delays

The Mass Customization Spectrum

There is a whole spectrum of ways that Mass Customization methodologies can benefit companies. At the most visible end of the spectrum, companies can mass customize products for individual customers. The most well know category of individual customization relates to products that people wear (clothing, shoes, and glasses) as well as bicycles and pagers.

Further along the spectrum is niche market customization. Exporters have to deal with many niche market products, usually a different set of products for each country exported; and even if the differences seem minor, the sheer variety of SKUs (stock keeping units) can have significant cost and flexibility implications. Almost all companies could benefit from expansion into niche markets if they could do it efficiently.

At the other end of the spectrum are companies that have tremendous varieties of standard products, for instance, industrial suppliers of valves, switches, instruments, electrical enclosures, or any company with a catalog over a half an inch thick. As with product customization, there is a great contrast between how mass producers and mass customizers manufacture a variety of standard products. The mass-producer has the dilemma of trying...