For example, Dell makes a computer that you design. It is usually done with the use of flexible manufacturing (computer-aided, robotics), which permits the production of large quantities (mass), at a fast speed and at a low unit cost. To implement build-to-stock (BTS), it was necessary to design standard products, produce them, store them, and then sell them. This concept of branding is becoming quite popular with the companies these days, and more and more companies are adopting this business concept to boosttheir sales. Dell recently announced that they are turning away from their mass customization model. Matt Richards Episode 1 - Mass Customization, Example #2: 2011 Mercedes Benz E-Class Cabriolet, Advantages & Disadvantages of Mass Customization. Even the impact of cosmetic customization is also seen in the retail industry. Mass Customization (3.28 minutes), Understanding: Robots—Mass Customization (2 minutes), The International Institute of Mass Customization. certification program for those looking to take their careers to the next level. We wanted to find how top brands incorporated product customization feature to their online store and how it impacted their overall sales & brand image. Mass customization is a business strategy that focuses on customersTypes of CustomersCustomers play a significant role in any business. and Dashboard. Under collaborative customization, customers are offered a range of product options from where to choose, while the product features are reviewed and adjusted. Mass customization is also applicable to intangible products, such as software. On their company blog , Dell states: In the past, we utilized a single direct configure to order model and we gave our customers a cascade of options to choose from when … For example, Motorola gathers customers’ needs for pagers or cellular phones, transmits the customers’ specifications electronically to the manufacturing plant where the devices are manufactured, and then the finished products are sent to the customers within a day. before adopting such a form of business strategy. Companies provide their customers with a toolkit for product innovation during the process. Customers are provided with basic product and a range of features that they can add or subtract to get a unique product. The creation of standard products by automation drove prices down, and demand accelerated. Jelassi and Endres (2008) offer a detailed case study. Free-only financial planners allow their principal clients to customize their managed accounts to align with market conditions. Similarly, a product platform strategy can help companies customize products into several end variants of the product family. In addition to this, the cost can be lowered by outsourcing the production to suppliers. Entrepreneurs use a remarkable amount of creativity to design mass customization products. You can design your own T-shirt, Swatch watch, and many more products and services. It is a technique that allows a firm to produce a broad array of product variations to serve different markets, preferences and requirements. The process of mass customization is composed of two major steps. This company works on the adaptive mass customization concept and sell customized designed products like wallets, passport covers, handbags, key chains, and name tag, etc. So, Toyota may paint the car for you quickly, which will cost you a lot. With all this, you also have to handle the increasing competition in the field and provide such a variety of options that gives you an edge over your competitive companies. Only small changes are required to be made in the production process to provide customized services to customers. Research Proposal Format, What is Mass Communication? But with anything, there is a higher price. Mass customization is a concept where customers are provided unique custom-made products at the mass production prices. Theories, Career and Examples, Price Competition: Meaning, 6 Types, Advantages, and Disadvantages, Value Based Pricing - Definition, Advantages, Disadvantages, Sources of Secondary Data and its Advantages and Disadvantages, What is Commodification - Its advantages and disadvantages, Generational Marketing: Importance, Advantages, and Disadvantages, Market Penetration: Techniques, Advantages and Disadvantages, What is Field Testing and How to do It? This tutorial focuses on the topic of mass customization and build-to-order manufacturing, which deals with the issue of how it is possible to create customized products quickly and inexpensively so as to take advantage of EC capabilities to provide what people really want. For example, Dell, a computer company, established its leadership of … The greater the quantity of output produced, the lower the per-unit fixed cost. EC can facilitate customization, even mass customization. The solution to the problem of increased demand was mass production. One such personalization tool is My Yahoo!. page, or personalized customer services such as provided by Amazon.com and other e-tailers). Back to top Companies use prototype implementation with industrial partners as a tool to enable automatic derivation of software artifacts required to meet customer-specified features. For successful mass customization, you are required to eliminate intermediates so that you can learn about the needs of customers directly from the customers and not distorted information from intermediates. The concept of mass customization is becoming popular among peoplebecause of their desire to have unique things. For example, Google will e-mail you all news regarding topics of your choice (e.g., Chinese stocks, mass customization). Under the adaptive approach, manufacturing firms provide customized products that can perform different functions. They provide many options such as how much memory, screen size, dvd/cd/bluray drive; how many usb ports, options to be connected to tvs, and just about anything else you can think of. Mass customization is the use of standardization and scale economies to deliver wide-market goods and services tailored to suit specific customer’s requirements in high volumes and at a reasonable low cost. As time progresses, the customer will see more and more options to customize the products they want. It reaps the benefits of flexibility, integration, and personalization to produce custom-made products with low unit costs at near mass production efficiency. The process of creating customized product is known as build-to-order, or make-to-order. Types, examples, guide. You can upload your very own design to Dell.com and they will put it on the front of the computer for you. 7 Best Product Customization Examples. The managers believe that they need to use various methods to provide customer value. If the forecasted demand was wrong, the inventories were incorrect. The reason is that by their definition any personalized service is in effect customization. All Rights Reserved. Examples of the successful execution of mass customization include: Levi Strauss , an early innovator using the concept in 1994 with its “Original Spin” jeans for women, which leveraged technology to measure customers in its stores and send their details electronically to its factory. Note: The terms customization and personalization are often used interchangeably. In such a case, companies produce standardized products and present them in different ways that suit customers. Really a very fine way to express and looking a very pleasant article with full of healthy information. However, the products were inexpensive and good enough to fuel demand, and thus the method of mass production became a dominant one. Mass Customization of Software Products. We chose Dell as an example because of what they will allow you to do when you are building a computer.