Mass Customization & Open Innovation News

Getting past look but can't touch!

CYO 2011 blog post re-posted from www.cookiesncode.com

Mass Customization literature and research always states that customized products fulfill customers’ needs better than mass products and that customers will be more satisfied by using customized clothes, food or cars. If you take a look at re-purchases, this seems to be true: many customers are more inclined to buy customized products once they have done so once. But but why don’t most customers opt for this alternative ? There are many barriers that prevent customers from a first buying. Zipkin mentioned some in his article “The limits of Mass Customization”.

Many people are frightened to buy a product they have never seen, felt or touched. Most Mass Customized products will be produced as soon as an order exists, not before. Therefore customers often rely on the impression that they get by the configurator or information of the product online. In addition to this, customers have to play an active role within the configuration process – this can be time intensive and – for a newbie – unsettling: “Am I able to do this?” It’s one thing to have a great idea or to sell the perfect product- but companies (no matter how little or big they are) have to attract customers and – even more difficult – to successfully guide them through a buying (configuration) process to its completion.

If you want to learn from the companies that are doing this successfully, come pick the brains of people like Carine Moitier from Bivolino or Michael Bruck from Chocri this Monday the CYO 2011 opening!

Capital for Mass Customization

CYO 2011 blog post re-posted from www.cookiesncode.com

It all starts with an idea. A thought, random as it may be at first, slowly evolving into a concept how to make things better. Or, at least, how to make your product better and improve your chances to sell it to your customers. Had that idea already? Great! If your idea is related to the employment of Mass Customization then you might have already wrapped your brain around the techniques and requirements to successfully integrate the idea into your production and marketing concept. That’s already half the way done!

Unfortunately, part of the other half is a basic requirement: paying upfront for the necessary tools and implementations. In simple words: you need venture capital, pronto. While all it may take is to convince your VP finance if you work in a large company, smaller firms face the grim reality of a difficult finance market. Unless you can raise the needed amount of money from other sources you will have to sell your idea to somebody who is willing to finance its further development. Easier said than done and one of the most critical obstacles for many startups on the MC market.

At CYO2011 Dr. Rolf-Christian Wentz who is a consultant focusing on the management and strategic orientation of innovation and marketing of new products. Having worked with global companies such as Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson, and Campbell’s in Germany, Portugal and the US he can offer a lot of tips and tricks for startups to generate venture capital. Furthermore the event offers the opportunity to get in touch with other MC companies who can provide insight about how they dealt with the financial challenges.

Participate in Research on Flexibility in a Manufacturing Network

A group of Master students in Business Administration at SUPSI in Switzerland asked me to post their link and request for participation at a brief survey for manufacturing firms, which I am happy to support:

"We are currently following a research project in collaboration with the project Remplanet, sponsored by the European Commission, which analyse development of methods and tools that provide flexibility for the corporate network.

Our work focus on the production and sales strategies chosen by the European companies, especially BtB, in the manufacturing sector. As we aim to obtain a picture of the real situation, we kindly ask you to participate to the following survey.
 
The survey is anonymous and will take just 10 minutes of your time. The main goal is to understand manufacturing companies' needs regarding flexible production.

The survey is available in English at the following link
http://linux3.dti.supsi.ch/limesurvey/index.php?sid=38841&lang=en

Your contribution is very important for us, especially for the good result of our research. For this reason, we would like to thank you in advance for your kind collaboration. Daniele Cerri, Fabio Crivelli, Claudia Ghilardi, Andrea Nessi, Ornella Piana"

So, if you are working for an European manufacturer of industrial equipment or components, please support the them and participate in the research!

Mass Customization is successful procrastination!

CYO 2011 blog post re-posted from www.cookiesncode.com

Mass Customization relies heavily on the key idea of being able to produce customer-specific goods at or close to mass production price. Looking at the value chain of most products, one aspect strikes the eye at first glance: major-league cost drivers logistics and production. Basic understanding of production theory is that it is generally cheaper to produce a good in large batches than in small quantities. Obviously, the traditional approach cannot be the one of choice for a Mass Customization company. Or can it? Building an artefact, individually designed by a customer (applying the general limitations of MC to “individual design”), does not necessarily mean to give up on the large standardized batch you got used to. After all, the working space of your configurator is basically just that: a number of standard components that you offer your customer to put together according to his or her wishes. Likewise you can certainly produce these components in the most cost efficient way possible.

The art lies within clever postponement. Given that you hardly know which exact product variation you want to produce until your customer comes around telling you, one has to anticipate from past experiences which components will likely be needed and in which quantity. Once you get the order from your client you simply go and assemble your pre-produced factors in accordance to the individual customer’s design. The opportunities to save money from large batch production on the one hand and maximum flexibility to adapt on the other creates a key advantage over competitors.

Just like in the famous example of Italian apparel manufacturer Benetton: In the lengthy process of producing fashion the traditional approach has always been to first dye the yarn, then knit it to a product and sell it. Unfortunately, the knitting process is by far the most time-intense factor in the production process, and time matters. Especially in the fashion industry where customer’s choice and “trends” change in no time at all. Benetton chose a revolutionary way to overcome the risk of outdated product varieties by simply reversing the production process: the garment was tailored first and dyed just shortly before delivery. That way customer demands could be better investigated and fitting products be produced. You can learn more about how to do mass customization from thought leaders in the field from both business and academic worlds at Create Your Own, the first major business symposium on Mass Customization in Europe.

Customising China

Nadia El-Imam (www.cookiesncode.com) interviews Oliver Hickfang (Partner in Taiwain-based 3digitalminds) about his experiences working with Mass-Customisation  in China ahead of his talk at CYO2011. Interview reposted from www.cookiesncode.com: Customising China.

Nadia: Hi Oliver, what are your personal associations with the term “mass-customisation”- what does it mean to you?
 

Oliver: When I first time ever heard about mass-customisation I thought, isn’t that just a new commercial buzz word or – even worse – a contradiction in itself? I asked myself, how can a company make money by following a single customer wish on a scalable mass production platform? Now, some years and some purchases of mass-customized products later I know better: the combination of smart management, smart production processes, the interactive web and last but not least the outsourcing of tasks to the customer makes mass-customization possible. And, by the way, DIY is nothing new but a re-invention of the “do it yourself” movement from the 50s and 60s when the mass effective production took place in the western world and some people just weren’t unsatisfied with style and image guidelines from the industry. The combination of our actual production and distribution knowledge with the creative and social knowledge of the customer will create the best customized products we have seen so far.

Nadia: Do you remember in which context you first came across it?

Oliver: As I remember the first time ever I purchased a customized product was some years ago during an Indiatrip where I found a custom tailor for suits. After measurement and agreeing on the style details the suit was ready to wear within 5 days. I had the chance to visit the production place and was surprised about the well organized processes: each tailor was responsible for sewing just very few dedicated pieces of the suit, one tailor sewed all pieces together and one was responsible for the final quality check. The concept of mass production with a personal touch was fully understood.

Nadia: Do you know why there is this sudden interest in MC and related concepts at the moment?

Oliver: First: people are sick and tired of wearing boring clothes or possessing mass products which they might find in their friends place as well. A person in an affluent society who basically has everything needs the next kick which is something special, personal, and individual. Second: The social web along with border-less interaction stimulates consumers to exchange and show their creations. Nothing is more appealing and worth talking about than own achievements and nothing is more interesting for friends to share and be proud of. Third: where a demand is also a supply. Companies are aware of the trend for customization and by answering it with products and services they even more stimulate the development.

Nadia: Why/ in which situation did you decide to employ MC/work with MC-  a little background?

Oliver: Some years ago I had the idea to open a company for mass customized business shirts but a great offer from an international consulting company came across so I skipped that idea. However, I never totally buried that idea. After living in Chinafor some years and experiencing the matchless demand of 1, 3 Billion people with black hair and brown eyes for appearing a little bit more individual I decided to open my own company in the co-creation field.

Nadia: How did that work out for you- what new challenges did it raise for you and how did you deal with them?

Oliver: Asian markets, especially China, are highly challenging and demanding. Not only concerning the set up and the running of a company but also the complex cultural background and history which effects consumer’s predispositions. For example, the color white in Europemeans beauty and virginity; in Chinait might be associated with death as well as the number 4. Especially China is facing a development from an agricultural based country to a modern industrialised country in now time. While Europeand the USAneeded some decades to introduce landline telephone to every household the Chinese just skipped the landline and introduced mobile smart phones. Very fast developments not seldom have their victims and often the law and reliably regulations stay behind the actual reality. From my opinion the biggest challenge in China is having a strong and reliable network, a long term vision and peace of mind.

CYO in a Nutshell:
Place: 10969 Berlin Kreuzberg, Germany ( exact location on cyo website)
Time:
Monday, 30 May 2011: 5-8pm: Press conference and Opening of the Exhibition
Tuesday, 31 May 2011: 9-6pm: CYO2011 Conference & MC Business Incubator Workshop
Registration: General registration for the event is 200,- Euro for the Early Bird Rate, 350,- Euro onsite.
Hosts: CYO2011 is sponsored and co-organized by OpenGarments and SERVIVE, two research projects financed by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Program. More information is available on the event website: http://www.cyo2011.com