Mass customization
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In marketing, manufacturing, call centre operations, and management, mass
customization makes use of flexible computer-aided systems to produce custom
output. Such systems combine the low unit costs of mass production processes with the
flexibility of individual customization.
Mass customization is the new frontier in business for both manufacturing and service
industries. At its core, is a tremendous increase in variety and customization without a
corresponding increase in costs. At its limit, it is the mass production of individually
customized goods and services. At its best, it provides strategic advantage and
economic value.[1]
It is one of the product design strategies and is currently used with both techniques
(delay differentiation and modular design) together with effective innovative climate to
enhance the value delivered to customers.[2]
Mass customization is the method of "effectively postponing the task of differentiating a
product for a specific customer until the latest possible point in the supply
network".[3] Kamis, Koufaris and Stern (2008) conducted experiments to test the impacts
of mass customization when postponed to the stage of retail, online shopping. They
found that users perceive greater usefulness and enjoyment with a mass customization
interface vs. a more typical shopping interface, particularly in a task of moderate
complexity.[4] From collaborative engineering perspective, mass customization can be
viewed as collaborative efforts between customers and manufacturers, who have
different sets of priorities and need to jointly search for solutions that best match
customers' individual specific needs with manufacturers' customization capabilities.[5]
The concept of mass customization is attributed to Stan Davis in Future Perfect[6] and
was defined by Tseng & Jiao (2001, p. 685) as "producing goods and services to meet
individual customer's needs with near mass production efficiency". Kaplan & Haenlein
(2006) concurred, calling it "a strategy that creates value by some form of companycustomer interaction at the fabrication and assembly stage of the operations level to
create customized products with production cost and monetary price similar to those of
mass-produced products". Similarly, McCarthy (2004, p. 348) highlights that mass
customization involves balancing operational drivers by defining it as "the capability to
manufacture a relatively high volume of product options for a relatively large market (or
collection of niche markets) that demands customization, without tradeoffs in cost,
delivery and quality".
Contents
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1Implementation
2Variants
3See also
4Notes
5References
Implementation[edit]
Many implementations of mass customization are operational today, such as softwarebased product configurators that make it possible to add and/or change functionalities of
a core product or to build fully custom enclosures from scratch. This degree of mass
customization, however, has only seen limited adoption. If an enterprise's marketing
department offers individual products (atomic market fragmentation), it doesn't often
mean that a product is produced individually, but rather that similar variants of the
same mass-produced item are available. Additionally, in a fashion context, existing
technologies to predict clothing size from user input data have been shown to be not yet
of high enough suitability for mass customisation purposes.[7]
Companies that have succeeded with mass-customization business models tend to
supply purely electronic products.[8] However, these are not true "mass customizers" in
the original sense, since they do not offer an alternative to mass production of material
goods.
Variants[edit]
Pine (1992) described four types of mass customization:[1]



Collaborative customization (also considered co-creation) – Firms talk to
individual customers to determine the precise product offering that best
serves the customer's needs (see personalized marketing and personal
marketing orientation). This information is then used to specify and
manufacture a product that suits that specific customer. For example, some
clothing companies will manufacture pants or jackets to fit an individual
customer. This is also being taken into deeper customization via 3D printing
with companies like Shapeways. Examples: Tailored suits; Converse lets
consumers chose the color or pattern of every element of certain types of
shoes, either in-store or online.
Adaptive customization – Firms produce a standardized product, but this
product is customizable in the hands of the end-user (the customers alter the
product themselves). Example: Lutron lights, which are programmable so that
customers can easily customize the aesthetic effect.[9]
Transparent customization – Firms provide individual customers with unique
products, without explicitly telling them that the products are customized. In

this case there is a need to accurately assess customer needs. Example:
Google AdWords and AdSense
Cosmetic customization – Firms produce a standardized physical product, but
market it to different customers in unique ways. Example: Soft Drink served
in: A can, 1.25L bottle, 2L bottle.[clarification needed]
He suggested a business model, "the 8.5-figure-path", a process going from invention to
mass production to continuous improvement to mass customization and back to
invention.