The Customer at the Final Frontier of Mass Customization

Mass customisation is no longer new. A decade of industrial experience have shown how this business paradigm have been used – and abused. Like any other evolutionary process of a business paradigm, the exploitation of mass customisation may be expected to stabilise as it matures. In this article, some of the factors influencing the use of this business paradigm are discussed and it is argued that the customer is the major limiting factor at the final frontier of mass customisation. Until recently mass customisation have mainly been turned towards the structural design of products, whereas this paper argues that there might be a need for an increased focus on the fulfilment of customer needs. As a result of this manufactures will have to hone the balance of trade-offs, as the paradigm of mass customisation becomes a commodity.