Implications of mass customization for operations management

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a survey conducted to explore issues surrounding mass customization and in particular its implications for operations management. The findings cover the market changes driving customization, the methods used to provide customized goods, the positive and negative effects of customization, and the difficulties of implementation. There are shown to be important implications for operations management in a strategy of mass customization, and thus substantial scope for further research by operations management academics.

Effects of technology adoption on mass customization ability of broad and narrow market firms

“…In addition, we clarify the distinctive role of three major technologies in the MC dimensions of productivity and product customization. For that matter, we followed Åhlström and Westbrook (1999), who highlighted the need for more research on the role of manufacturing and information technologies in MC.…”

“…(Tu et al, 2001). A segunda lacuna está relacionada à compreensão limitada acerca do papel da tecnologia, em particular da tecnologia de informação, nos sistemas de CM (Åhlström and Westbrook, 1999 …”

“…It is fair to say that most of the concepts proposed in early MC studies have not yet been validated by empirical testing. The second gap concerns the lack of understanding about the role of technology, including information technology, in MC systems (Åhlström and Westbrook, 1999). The current literature (e.g.…”

Mass customization strategy development by FIRM

“…Mass customization encompasses companies selling their products to personal consumers, as well as selling to other businesses. 6 Customization is a new strategy to deal with changing customer demands, which enables fi rms to enhance their interaction with customers. 8 In this approach, both interactional and operational aspects must be fl exible in order to allow products to be customized.…”

“…5 Respectively, to understand different aspects of the fi rm and to profi le it precisely, managers should fi rst analyze their business carefully and then commit their company to a mass customization strategy. 6 Firms may use the synergy of knowledge management and e-commerce integration to gather the data of customer preferences and evaluate these data to advance mass customization. E-commerce captures external information, which consists of data on customer feedback and electronic interactions.…”