virtualization of design and production a thesis - Bilkent University

homogenous market and right after the design phase, the production had to be
performed on a very wide standardized scale to reduce production costs. Now
that the design and production is over, the company has to market the product in
order to compete with rivals and make profit out of the sales. One obvious
method of marketing is the contribution of advertisements that would probably
play with some connotations to motivate the customer to buy that certain
product. After (or during) the sales is performed, the company initiates a brand
new R&D of another model to be able to remain in the market.
In this type of relation, the use value is disguised as soon as the product finds
itself in the market where exchange value of the product dominates as Marx puts
it. Advertisements even reinforce this phenomenon and object is liberated as a
sign. This differential relation with other signs determines the value of the
product.
However, in the mass customized instance, the specific design integrates the
customer as the collaborator of the process. Having confidence in the capabilities
of manufacturing, the actual production is disavowed giving its place to the
marketing and even sales of the design in the very first place. Obviously, this
attitude derives from the virtual tools of the designers and producers. Therefore
we may observe a distinctive replacement of sequence through the product
generation which is quite different from the conventional methods of mass
production.
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