The Importance Of Mass Customization

Since the earliest artisans offered items for sale, customization and price have been two important product characteristics to the consumer. So is it today, but with a few twists. Toward the end of the 18th century, the French military made the breakthrough of using interchangeable parts for cannons and muskets. By the middle of the 19th century, many more products were being made from interchangeable parts. This paradigm shift caused consumers to become comfortable with buying standard products that were easier and cheaper to repair. Mass production became king because it allowed complex products like automobiles to be made cheaply enough that average people could afford them. The general trend of standard designs competing on price and

This ability to deliver products customized to each consumer’s specifications at near mass production prices is the Holy Grail of retailing. Giving customers the opportunity to have a product any time they want it, anywhere they want it, any way they want it resonates extremely well with consumers. The number of mass customized products is steadily growing as are personalized services, and this is what we call Mass Personalization. By 2025, retailers must be capable of supporting a highly diverse set of order and distribution channels in keeping with mass customized products and delivery methods. Customers will want to order with their phones, mobile devices and computers, as well as through traditional retail outlets, kiosks and perhaps as-yet-unimagined channels. Delivery modes will be just as diverse from time-definite, long-lead-time delivery to next-day delivery, same-day delivery and even same-hour

The personalization of production is tailored to the individual needs and preferences of customers[17]. Customers create innovative products and realize value by collaborating with manufacturers. In customization, customers are classified into different market segments based on different known customer needs by marketing analysis. The customers grouped in the same market segment receive similar or parameter based customized products from a predefined product family. The configuration mechanism, product architectures, basic modules and critical parameters have been kept stable within the predefined realm of configuration[18]. Computer configuration is a classic example of mass customization. Computer manufacturers predict the potential ranges of products that customers would like to purchase in advance. Then producers determine the common denominators to find the best set of building blocks for customers to mix and match to satisfy their needs. As a result, the essence of mass customization is to configure various product variants through modularity with the commonality embedded in the product platforms so as to reuse proven design among product families[19]. On the other hand, in the paradigm of mass personalization, it requires