Concept Explanation Of Mass Production

Many companies and business entities achieve higher levels of market success through extensive supply chain management. Market success within these industries and companies is possible through implementation of mass customization strategy. Mass Customization represents an approach within the business entity that seeks to be innovative, enhance quality, minimize cycle time, improve agility, and generate consumers who want to only associate with the firm or organization. The main objective of the mass customization strategy rests on the provision of products and services to satisfy unique tastes and preferences at affordable prices that relate effectively with target groups. A visit to Lutron Organization generates clear indication of how mass customization applies in relation to its application in business entities. Lutron organization adopts the strategy of mass customization to meet the needs and expectation of the consumers. Mass Customization is also effective and efficient in developing competitive advantage over other entities within the same industry. The approach of maximizing revenue while expanding the market coverage by Lutron draws from new technologies and knowledge in relation to forces of consumers and company demands. The main aim of the strategy within Lutron is to enable consumers acquire any product or service they want, anytime, in any way, and anywhere while enhancing the profit levels.

Optimization of machinery so that production setups are not required for small customizations which can be managed manually.

The well-known ‘build-it-yourself’ product design makes them progressive and makes them running ahead of the competition. IKEA is the only big brand in a category further not present in global markets, there are no real competitors operating in the same category. In 2013 775 million customers visited IKEA in 2013, and its website hosted 1.2 billion visits (4). Due to the ‘build-it-yourself’ product design IKEA is able to provide their customers with high quality and low cost products, even the customers with limited income and limited living space

MTO companies typically allow consumers to purchase products that are customized to their specifications. MTO strategy only manufactures the end product after getting confirmation from the customers. Unlike mass production where a material is manufactured many times, in MTO production a material is created only once though the production process that might be repeated at a later time. As a result, the consumer waiting time to receive the product increases but it allows more flexibility in customization compared to purchasing from retailers' shelves (Zhang et al., 2012). According to Muda et al. (2009), MTO companies can be classified by the following two types -

Founded in 1975, Custom Molds Inc. is the producer and supplier of bespoke molds and plastic connectors to the electronics industry. Building on its reputation, the company expanded in-house operations in the 1980s to include the limited production of plastic parts geared towards R&D based initiatives. During the early 1990s, the company realized that the shifting structure and market environment of the electronics industry was starting to impinge on the company’s manufacturing processes. This created a host of issues.

When a product is designed a specification is created to determine the standards for the product. In manufacturing these standards are given an allowable range. The most common attributes for these types of products are size, shape, color, weight, and piece count. The standards placed on these attributes determine the material used, equipment needed for processing, and labor. The tighter the standards are on these attributes the higher the cost is to produce. In today’s market, there is a demand to produce high quality products at competitive price

Mass production affects conflicts with society, business and international affairs because it can ultimately cause positive or negative impacts on these areas depending on the end result of the sales of the items in question. I believe that this can lead to the outcome going either way causing a ripple effect and ultimately bringing a positive or negative impact on these areas depending on several factors such as marketing, sales, etc.

Design combines “technology, cognitive science, human need, and beauty to produce something the world didn’t know it was missing”. Assume that all products have the same technology, price, performance, and features. How would you know which product is better? That’s what design does; it is what differentiates one product from another. It creates utility and significance. For every percent of sales invested in product design, a company’s sales and profits rise by an average of 3-4 percent. My MAP organization Aldi’s thrives on making design choices that will benefit them in the future. They choose to have all stores exactly the same square footage, minimal brand options, only 6-8 employees, even multiple bar codes so checking out is quicker, and chose to save on stocking time by keeping their products in the same boxes they were shipped in. They utilize their costs and that has a huge significance on customer appreciation. Who doesn’t want greater quality at everyday low prices?

Offering numerous variations to customers can be challenging for John Deere and Co. There are some limitations for customizing the product as some combinations are not possible due to compatibility issues (Yunes, et al., 2007). John Deere has invested a large amount of time and funds to ensure resources can be transported to parts and manufacturing centres, suppliers, and dealerships to make customization possible. The delivery of the final product to the customer must be completed in an economical and timely manner. John Deere analysts have visited suppliers, tracked delivery times, determined where bottlenecks exist, and identified ways to control and account for damage incurred during transit. This research has helped John Deere improve operations and has increased the speed of delivery to ensure customization was feasible (Nelson, 2002).

While mass customization is a viable option in manufacturing with digital factories and employing lean manufacturing designs, service firms have to employ a more productive environment to make mass customization profitable. Mass customization refers to using mass production technologies to quickly and cost-effectively assemble goods that are uniquely designed to fit the demands of individual customers (Daft, 2016, p. 271). The key challenge for service mass customization is to translate information about consumer preferences gained through market research into a format that can be easily used for service modularization decisions and customer-contact personnel training (Haas & Kunz, n.d., p. 603). In the service arena, mass customization becomes an ongoing configuration process with direct involvement of the customer coupled with professional advice by service personnel who understand the configuration rules and know them by heart. A clear understanding of the customer’s needs is required, as well as a requirement by service personnel to provide the customer clear and concise configuration options that strike the perfect balance between flexibility and complexity. Also, a continuous interaction between frontline contact personnel and the customer is a consequence that must be

“Although 3-D printers are not yet a standard part of home-computing equipment, the latest generation of devices, such as Cube® by 3D Systems, the Cubex™ or Makerbot’s Replicator™2X - which retail for between one and three thousand US dollars - are bringing the possibility of home manufacturing one step closer to reality” (Jewell). Now the biggest difference between traditional manufacturing and 3D printing will be the emergence of mass customization. Goods will be, “infinitely more customized, because altering them won’t require retooling, only tweaking the instructions in the software. Creativity in meeting individuals’ needs will come to the fore, just as quality control did in the age of rolling out sameness” (D'Aveni). When you have a product that is printed out individually from software with your own customization, then there would be no reason in buying a product that will look like something another person can own because of its ordinary accessibility. Creating physical 3D models in a fast, easy and affordable way has great potential, especially when you can do it in the comfort of your home.

“Design Driven Innovation” (Verganti, 2009) or “Design Inspired Innovation” (Utterback et al., 2006), a concept of design-oriented (or novel meaning oriented) product/service planning, is now widely recognized as one of the most competitive business creation approaches. This approach focuses concept oriented product development to bring a novel meaning into the product, as represented by iPod (Apple Inc.), Allesi’s kitchen wares (Allesi S.p.A.) and Wii (Nintendo Corp.). A unique product concept and a consistent strategy overcome various market barriers or technological obstacles. Indeed, iPod established a new virtual market for the music industry, Swatch turned watches into daily dress-up accessories from lifelong

I looked more in depth into a mass market and focused my research on homeowners. I found that there were a lot of possibilities for products marketed towards homeowners. After completing my research, I found that there were many advantages of a mass market. One advantage is that there are more people who will want the product if it is a mass market. Another advantage is that each product is usually inexpensive, which means many will sell to make a profit. Our organizer has many special parts in it to meet the wants of people in the mass market. Our product is a car console organizer and it comes in many sizes and colors. Our easy to use product also is light and portable. The product contains many multi-sized compartments for phones, money, and sunglasses. There is also a secret compartment with an easy access. While manufacturing this product, we would use plastic sheets to create it. We found plastic to be the correct choice because it can change texture and colors. It also is a very inexpensive product that is a light and strong material. The overall cost of our product includes the cost of material ($43.96 for two plastic sheets that are 30 inches by 36 inches) and the labor and overhead cost ($4.50) which adds up to the total production cost ($48.46). Then, I added the total production cost to the manufacturer’s markup, which is 10% of the total

Thus, the content of service is standardized but the standard elements can be combined in many ways when delivered”. Modulisation therefore combines the advantages of customization, by offering personalized services that increase the customer satisfaction, together with the advantages of standardization that focus upon increasing the productivity. In this way, the company has control over the costs and the customer is satisfied because he feels he receives an individual service (Sundbo, 2002). In addition, through modulisation, a service provider profits from large-scale manufacturing, while the production is “specialized and modulised, and yet is simultaneously flexible” (Sundbo,

While the customized nature of B&B’s products isn’t conducive to the type of streamlining seen in volume manufacturing applications, they can