| Mass Customization |
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Tseng and Jiao define mass customization as "producing goods and services to meet individual customer's needs with near mass production efficiency" (Source: Tseng, M.M., Jiao, J. (2001): Mass Customization, in: Handbook of Industrial Engineering, Technology and Operation Management, 2001, 3rd. ed., p.685; ISBN 0471330574)'' Joseph Pine II in his book ''Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition'' (ISBN 0875849466) described this paradigm at the beginning of the 90s. Pine suggested a business model that he called the 8-figure-path which describes the process from invention to mass production to continuous improvement to mass customization and back to invention. Pine also describes four types of mass customization:
THE SPREAD OF MASS CUSTOMIZATION Today we can observe many implementations of mass customization, like item are available. Example: If an automotive company talks about "individual cars" they may imply individual assembling of a car, but typically this only occurs at the last stage within the manufacturing process, and ''not directly in response to customer demand''. That wouldn't include an individual wish of a special auto body. Auto body production is, firstly, a fully automated welding process, and secondly, one of the first processes in creation of value. A frequent change of an automated production process would include a frequenly set-up change within programming, tools and apparatuses. Try it, call an automotive company and ask them for a personalized auto body, and tell them you would only pay an economy price! Many industries have found that lengthy Supply -chains, and the economics of configurability do not allow them to Economic ally offer "mass customization". Famously, some of the early businesses attempting mass-customization (e.g. in Bicycle production) went out of business. In 1999 boosters of the mass customization trend proferred Cannondale as the exemplar of the new model. For instance: :"Cannondale (www.cannondale.com), for example can configure over 8 million different frame and colour variations in its bicycles." ( {Link without Title} eBusiness Research Centre Working Paper). Although the company's subsequent s. (In some cases, business consultants used the company's business model as an example whilst it was out of business; see " The Dilbert Future " for a satirical attack.) Those companies which have succeeded with "customerization" business-models, tend to supply purely electronic products ( ITunes , etc). However, these are not true "Mass customizers" in the original sense, since they do not offer an alternative to mass production of material goods. Companies in which the production of tangible Goods is now immediately directed by consumer demand include:
Also, companies throughout the Tourism industry have been offering Package Holiday alternatives through mass customization. SEE ALSO
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