Developing production process capabilities for mass customization: survey in Brazilan Industry

Abstract

The mass customization (MC) is a business strategy that arouse in corporate scenario in the mid-80s and since then it has been embraced by innovative companies interested in the competitive differential it may bring about. The successful adoption of MC, though, demands deep changes in critical areas of the organization. The purpose of this work is to elucidate which are these critical areas, to identify the elements that enable the internal production operations for MC, and to assess the applicability of these elements in different industrial sectors. This article provides a conceptual framework on the organizational capabilities for MC which relates the enabling elements for this strategy identified in a literature review. The way the production system and its processes are organized to effectively support the search of MC is examined by case studies conducted in two industrial sectors: the automobile and computer industries.