What Is Mass Customization?

Mass customization is t💝he process of delivering market goods and services that are modified to satisfy a specific cust𒀰omer’s needs.

Mass customization is a marketing and manufacturing technique that combines the flexibility and personalization of custom-made products with the low unit costs associated with 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:mass production. Other names foꦏr mass customization include made-to-order or built-to-ordꦛer.

Understanding Mass Customization

Mass customization allows a customer to design certain 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:made-to-order features of a product while still keeping costs c🎐loser to that of mass-produ✱ced products. In some cases, the components of the product are modular. This flexibility allows the client to mix and match options to create a semi-custom final product.

Mass customization may apply to many fields, but many connect it to the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:retail industry. Software creators may use this method to include software-based product configurations that enable end-users to add or change specific fun😼ctions of a core product. Even the financial services industry embraces mass customization through the growth of independent, fee🐻-only advisory firms.

The Growth of Mass Customization

B. Joseph Pine II looked at the growth of the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:American economy due to mass production. In his book “Mass Customization: ꧋The New Frontier in Business Competition” (Harvard Business Review Press, 1992), he describes four prima🅺ry types of mass customization that took the concept of mass production to a new level:

• Collaborative customization: Companies work in partnership with clients to offer products or services uniquely suited to each client.
• Adaptive customization: Companies produce standardized products that the end-user may customize.
• Transparent customization: Companies provide unique products to individual clients without overtly stating that the products are customized.
• Cosmetic customization: Companies produce standardized products but market them in different ways to various customers.

Pine focused on the concept of creating a small number of interchangeable pieces. The individual parts may be combined in a variety of ways that produce a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cost-efficient production model and still allow consumers to choose how the pieces go ❀together.

Examples of Mass Customization

Fee-only, independent 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:financial advisors allow their clients to customize their 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:portfolio holdin🅺gs to match their unique situations. The consumer may choose products that match their investment risk tolerance, time horizon, investment style, and future goals.

Certain furniture companies offer mass custo💜mization by providing multiple options for various components or features. This flexibility may include different fabrics, furniture legs, or pieces that combine in numerous configurations. Also, modular home builders use mass customization models by allowing customers to make changes to the base home package.

Benefits of Mass Customization

Mass customization enables manufacturers to delay the step of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:product differentiation until the final phase of manufacturing. Rather than theꦡ manufacturer deciding on the features that make the product unique, mass customization allows the consumer to make these decisions. For some consumers, the ability to customize a product is enough to sway their buying decision in favor of one company over another.

Mass customization can then become part of a lucrative 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:marketing strategy for a company. Companies that offer customization can give themselves a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:competitive advantage over their rivals. They can tout their ability to produce a semi-custom product at a reasonable price to consumers who are looking for an upgrade over a generic product. As long as the company is able to deliver a product that does not compromise on quality, they have an opportunity to increase sales, profits, and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:brand loyalty for their one-of-a-kind products.

Mass customization can also help a company with the costs associated with excess 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inventory. Implementing a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:just-in-time (JIT) approach to manufacturing can assist companies in🍌 minimizing inventory and increasing efficiency. Companies that take a JIT approach to mass customization will need reliable suppliers and an inventory replenishment system that notifies them exactly when new materials need to be ordered.

The Bottom Line

Mass customization lets a customer personalize certain features of a product while still keeping costs at or near mass production prices. The process𒀰 is also known as made-to-order or built-to-order.