Proposal of a conceptual framework to explore manufacturing in mass customization environment

The objective of this dissertation is to explore one important facet of Mass Customization based on a cross-functional study of literature and empirical findings. Today, Mass Customization Manufacturing is an interesting field to be studied which promises to take an important part in future environment. Mass customization is the new frontier in today’s competitive business market for both manufacturing and service industries. Commonly, it is defined as a business strategy that intends to meet individual customer wants at near mass production efficiency. Mass customization can be extended in many aspects in terms of marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, or management as well as many other areas. As far as manufacturing is concerned, manufacturing has a critical role in innovation of goods and services to be realized in the real market. It enables technological innovations to be accessible and affordable which leads to many positive impacts for growth. Hence, manufacturing within the one of the most popular business terms of today-Mass Customization is a promising field to be researched and explored the future potential. The study intends to present both the current state and the future directions of mass customization manufacturing. Initially, a general literature review associated with the concept of Mass Customization was presented. A deeper analysis was conducted following to literature overview. Thus, the work was divided into two sections which will be integrated in order to conceptualize a framework that presents the elements of mass customization manufacturing. The core elements to be explored are determined as (1) manufacturing methodologies, (2) existing enabling technologies (advanced manufacturing and information technologies) as well as (3) future trends and technologies. Inherently, this thesis encountered some limitations that are originated from either the current literature or practical resources. The current literature of Mass Customization lacks explicit links to the manufactural approaches. Additionally, it is challenging effort to find resources to support academical standpoints due to the limited number of empirical case studies dedicated to the topic or the accessibility to some sources. Unfortunately, companies are not open to information sharing when it comes to internal processes. Despite the obstacles, the study was carried out to make the best out of the resources in hand. The output of this paper is expected to be an helpful analysis for following research studies in the relevant topic. In addition, it can be also contributing in terms of practical purposes such as for those companies that are willing to pursue a MC strategy or for empirical studies.