Sustainable value co-creation through mass customisation: a framework

Abstract

Adopting sustainability considerations in businesses is no longer a choice for companies. Sustainable value co-creation by customers and producers collectively considering environmental and societal implications is essential to increase value to all stakeholders. Such opportunities are provided by mass customisation which involves producing individually customised products to meet specific customer requirements. During co-design, a key feature of mass customisation, customers and producers interactively determine the specifications of the product to meet customer needs, within the limits defined for the solution space. However, this co-creation of value (through co-design) in mass customisation has thus far been pursued without explicit consideration of environmental and societal implications, both important from a sustainability perspective. This paper presents an in-depth review of the mass customisation model and its potential as a platform for sustainable value co-creation. Approaches to integrate sustainable manufacturing practices for mass customisation, a preliminary model to optimise sustainable value co-creation and directions for further research are also discussed.