Seven Steps Manufacturers Must Take to Begin Offering Mass Customization to Their Customers

Abstract

Manufacturers must be proactive, adapt, and adopt new mind-sets and management tools to take full advantage of information technologies. To successfully implement mass customization, it is of the utmost importance that they emphasize analysis, decision-making, performance evaluation, and added value. Flexibility is a must as the market increasingly expects it. Mass customization offers much potential for extending brand awareness, acquiring new markets, and generating profits. However, in order to do so, manufacturers must adjust their business practices and clearly define the limits of their operational strategy so that they do not radically alter a structure that took years to build. Mass customization must not be strictly seen as a short-term marketing and operational strategy. When introducing new products or practices, a brand must be in synergy with the new offers, even if the company initially loses money. The manufacturer must commit to sustainable development with a vision, challenges, directions, areas of intervention, and objectives as “clear as possible” to serve as an example to follow; it must also demonstrate leadership. This chapter examines the potential of products and services configuration within the personalization and mass customization concept. It is within this context that “mass individualism” is examined; a phenomenon which in a climate of globalization can provide novel and environmentally sustainable consumer opportunities for major fashion manufacturers. It has become increasingly difficult for companies to offer interesting products and respond to the specific needs and desires of clients who have become much more savvy and aware of traditional methods of marketing. Thus, the industry must add real value to previously standardized products, in the form of customer-specific services to better respond to consumer demand for authenticity and individuality. It is in this respect that mass customization is examined, and several key implementation strategies are developed for manufacturers.