Applying "mass customisation" manufacturing principles to solve technical communication problems
1 February, 2005 By Yves Rombauts,Trisoft. Contact us if you would like a PDF version of this article.
Breaking the trade-off: adopting the trend in manufacturing
The trade-off between keeping something re-usable and simultaneously having the ability to make it specific is not new. In the field of car manufacturing, for example, companies struggle with the same trade-off. In their need to produce large volumes of car components to realize economies of scale, car manufacturers aim to re-use the same car components across broad ranges of car models. Standardization of product components is the key enabler for this re-use. At the same time, car manufacturers aim to differentiate their car models in order to reach a broad customer base. Car users are not a uniform group; they have different transportation needs, different budgets and might be appealed by different product characteristics. This is the reason why marketers segment their target market and develop a specific, personalized offering for each of the identified segments.
Mass customization in manufacturing
Car manufacturers have found ways to break the trade-off between standardization and personalization. They have enabled mass customization by using standardized components that can be personalized at the very end of the production chain. In fact, what they do is add intelligence to the car component so that it can be personalized to the specific context (i.e. the car model) in which it is used.
A good example of this approach is how a car engine can be re-used across various car models (see illustration 2). In order realize economies of scale, the same physical engine (e.g. in terms of number of cylinders, capacity, stroke/bore.) is deployed for two different car models. Yet, as these models target different customer segments, the power and torque are set differently for each car model.
This is made possible by adding intelligence in terms of software components to the mechanical engine so that it can be tuned to the specific needs of the context (the car model) in which it is deployed. This way, marketers can still differentiate the end product (e.g. in terms of power the engine can produce) and market it correspondingly.
This approach effectively breaks the trade-off between re-use and personalization: one universal mechanical engine is re-used across different car models while its performance characteristics are personalized for the specific context in which it is used. It truly enables mass customization.
Next: Creating universal modules: concept and benefits
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