virtualization of design and production a thesis - Bilkent University

individual wants and needs can be ascertained and fulfilled.
They have determined that reducing product life cycles and
fragmenting demand can yield powerful advantages for those
causing these changes relative to those forced to react to
them. Leading companies have created processes for lowcost,
volume production of great variety, and even for
individually customized goods and services. They have
discovered the new frontier in business competition: Mass
Customization. In this new frontier, a wealth of variety and
customization is available to consumers and businesses
through the flexibility responsiveness of companies
practicing this new system of management” (Pine II, 6-7).
To clarify the basic idea of mass customization, Pine II gives the example of a
fast food restaurant where they used to serve mass produced hamburgers, french
fries and drinks. However, recent observation is that they provide half dozen
varieties of burgers, sandwiches, salads, spaghetti, pizza along with a variety of
soft drinks. It is the same for the automobile industry where Henry Ford’s
dictum, “You can have any color car you want as long as it is black” had
operated for many years. The shift from homogenous markets and neglected
demands to a fragmented demand and heterogeneous markets has an extensive
impact on the automobile industry. The sole reason for this is the fact that
automobile industry being one of the most complex and innovative industries,
had to go under an immediate adaptation in order to pursue high competition.
Emphasizing design and innovation, automobile firms offers a wide variety of
products even within the same model proving to be the most suitable instance of
a mass customized system.
47