Title: Optimising the degree of customisation for products in mass customisation systems

Authors: Sami Spahi, Yasser Hosni

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd. (ENG2-452), Orlando, FL 32816, USA. ' Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816, USA.

Abstract: Most of the literature views the degree of customisation as how early the customer is integrated in the production cycle, which is defined as the order decoupling point. This paper presents a model that will determine the optimal degree of customisation from a product|s structural design perspective. In this paper we first introduce the term |Magnitude of Customisation| (MOC) as a unit to measure the degree of customisation for products on a customisation scale. The MOC value is based on quantifying the extent of options per module or the extent of customisable features per component for a product in a mass customisation system. Second, a multicriteria optimisation tool is used to generate an optimal solution to how far an organisation should customise a product to best satisfy its own organisational strategic goals. A case study of an aluminium windows and doors company is used to evaluate the model.

Keywords: mass customisation; degree of customisation; production planning; goal programming; MOC value; magnitude of customisation; product design; multicriteria optimisation; aluminium windows; aluminium doors.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMASSC.2009.021662

International Journal of Mass Customisation, 2009 Vol.3 No.1, pp.82 - 114

Published online: 30 Nov 2008 *

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