Purpose -Most mass customization literature focuses on the move from mass production to mass customization. However, in some literature Engineer-To-Order (ETO) companies are also claimed to have become mass customizers, although it can be questioned if these companies conform to popular definitions of mass customizers. This raises the question: Under which conditions is it reasonable to label ETO companies as mass customizers? Design/methodology/approach -First, definitions of mass customisation are examined and related to ETO companies that move towards mass customization. Second, the individual transitions from mass production and ETO to mass customization are analyzed by: (i) Relating the transition to classifications from relevant literature, (ii) describing the motivations and risks associated with the transition, and (iii) defining some of the most important transition characteristics. Finally it is discussed if ETO companies can become mass customizers and under which conditions it would be reasonable to describe them as such. Findings -The paper argues that it from several angles makes sense to label some ETO companies as mass customizers although the products are not at prices near mass produced ones. Research limitations/implications -To avoid dilution of the concept of mass customization, while not excluding ETO companies, it is suggested to start out with a broad definition of mass customization under which separate definitions of different kinds of mass customizers are created. What is original/value of paper -Although much has been written about mass customization, and ETO companies in much literature have been labelled as mass customizers, the essential discussion of under which conditions it is reasonable to label ETO companies as mass customizers has been missing.
This paper presents a reference framework for the configuration process. The reference framework is established through an extensive review of existing literature, and as such consolidates an extensive theoretical base. The review of literature shows a broadening of the understanding of the configuration task. The definition of the configuration task is somewhat ambiguous because different research groups define configuration tasks differently. This paper proposes a reference framework for configuration that permits a more precise understanding of a configuration task, a definition of the basic concepts in product configuration, and a total configuration system view that describes how operators come together to perform the configuration task in the configuration process. We will define the product, the product model, the configuration task, and the configuration system, and put the whole thing into perspective with the theory of technical systems, where we describe the configuration process and the different abstraction level of configurations. We will also use our resulting framework to describe sales configuration, technical configuration, and reconfiguration. We do this to synthesize previous work, to clarify and make coherent definitions of relevant terms, to extent the definition of product configuration to include “softer” products like information and service, and finally, to give a comparative framework to analyze work done in the field of product configuration. The total configuration system, together with the definition of key concepts, comprises a strong reference framework when working with, developing, and analyzing configuration systems.
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