CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT AND PRODUCT CONFIGURATORS IN SMEs OKP WITH THE DOMINANT VARIATION OF THE TOPOLOGY

This paper is concerned with the complexity of the configuration process in small-and medium-sized one-of-a-kind production (SMEs OKP) with the dominant variation of the topology from the aspect of the position of customer involvement decoupling point (CIDP), batch size and the complexity of the product configurations process. The issues of the level of the product adjustment to the customer, complexity of the product configuration process, the possibility for the client to be integrated in that early phase of the production and the way of using the data obtained in the product configuration process for generating the final product specification of the customised product in this type of production have been discussed. A special concern has been given to the product complexity paradox, i.e. a risk that a customer may decide not to purchase the product because of too many technical details they encounter while configuring the product, as well as an inevitable extension of the leading time induced by the position of CIDP in this type of production. The division of configurators in three interconnected parts is suggested as the solution for the aforementioned problems: the front-end, middle-end and back-end configurator. The paper emphasises the establishment of the necessary communication channel between the customer, i.e. the front-end configurator and the seller, i.e. the middle end configurator in order to alleviate the effects of the product complexity paradox. A positive effect of the automatic download of the generated data from the front-end and middle-end configurators by the back-end configurator on the leading time reduction has been also discussed

AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FOR APPLYING LEAN MANUFACTURING AND OTHER STRATEGIES IN MASS CUSTOMIZATION ENVIRONMENTS

Manufacturing organizations are facing fragmented markets and increased demand of variety from consumers. As a result, many of these firms have adopted mass customization manufacturing strategies in an effort to offer their customers the freedom of choice while maintaining operational efficiency. Lean manufacturing strategies have also seen heavy use in manufacturing environments. This study investigates the possibilities of integrating lean manufacturing principles and practices into mass customization environments in order to improve system performance. The feasibility of other manufacturing strategies such as agility, Quick Response Manufacturing and the Theory of Constraints assisting in the application of lean manufacturing for mass customization is also explored with the goal of developing a theoretical framework for the application of these manufacturing systems in different types of mass customization environments. The result of these investigations is tested and verified using a real world case study

Mass Customization and Country-of-Origin Effects

This is a thesis by publication, consisting of three manuscripts. The research is positioned in the area of international marketing and offers a contribution to consumer culture theory. More specifically, it is about country of origin (COO) marketing, differences in product and country evaluation between ethnic subcultural groups living together within the same country, and the moderating role of mass customization (MC) on COO effects. The first manuscript classifies different COO marketing strategies that are employed to communicate the COO of a product or company to customers, and it provides a number of examples from practice. The second manuscript is based on the observation that globalization, international trade, multicultural societies and the introduction of innovative manufacturing strategies such as MC require continuous updating and reassessment of COO constructs and models. To this end, a study from 2003 has been replicated in a different cultural and geographical setting with results supporting the original findings. Finally, the third manuscript bridges the two research streams of COO and MC and provides empirical evidence of the impact of the manufacturing strategy on customers’ product evaluation. To sum up, the following research questions are examined in the three manuscripts: 1) Which different marketing strategies are employed by companies in order to communicate the COO of the company and/or of its brands to customers? 2) Do COO effects vary across subcultures within a country? 3) Does the manufacturing strategy (mass production vs. MC) have a moderating effect on the relationship between COO and consumer’s product evaluation