Mass customization in operations management: oxymoron or reality?

Abstract

Mass customization in production and operations management, a process of integrating mass production/standardization principles with customization, seems to be gaining momentum in the United States as well as all over the world. Major companies like Dell, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Proctor and Gamble, and others are experimenting and also effectively implementing this process in their production and operations facilities. Mass production and customization have traditionally been at the two opposite extremes of the production continuum. However, integrating these together as mass customization seems to be the practice of the present with the strong likelihood that it would be a continued trend of the future. This paper explores the concept of mass customization, focuses on methods to achieve mass customization, explains why it is not an oxymoron but a reality, looks at the advantages and disadvantages, and discusses how it may be effectively used in production and operations management.a