What is the research focus in the current body of knowledge in the field of Mass Costomization we need to address?
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."
The research work focuses on the topic how to crack the code of mass customization.
Most companies can benefit from mass customization, yet few do. The key is to think of it as a process for aligning a business with its customers' needs.
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Mini Cooper customers can design the roofs of their vehicles by using an online tool kit. The tool kit has enabled BMW to tap into the custom after-sales market, which was previously owned by niche companies. In addition, Mini Cooper customers can also choose from among hundreds of options for many of the car's components, as BMW is able to manufacture all cars on demand according to each buyer's individual order.
The key is to view it basically as a process for aligning an organization with its customers' needs. That is, mass customization is not about achieving some idealized state in which a company knows exactly what each customer wants and can manufacture specific, individualized goods to satisfy those demands - all at mass-production costs. Rather, it is about moving toward these goals by developing a set of organizational capabilities that will, over time, supplement and enrich an existing business.That set of fundamental capabilities is threefold:
(1) the ability to identify the product attributes along which customer needs diverge,
(2) the ability to reuse or recombine existing organizational and value-chain resources and
(3) the ability to help customers identify or build solutions to their own needs.
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