John James Marshall thesis.pdf - OpenAIR @ RGU - Robert Gordon ...

and then shared globally. Gershenfeld has since deployed Fab Labs at remote
locations in places such as Norway, India and Ghana.
2.7.3 Mass-customised production
‘Mass Customisation’ (Davis, 1987) can be defined as a process that affordably
allows mass-market goods and services to be made specific, to meet an
individual customer’s requirements (Tseng & Jiao, 2001, p.685). There are
different models 25 for mass customisation for different products and market
sectors. These are consumer-driven, and make use of technologies such as the
internet or databases to deliver personalised services on a mass basis through
modularisation and reconfiguration (Atkinson, 2003, p.5). The product is built
with a level of customisation to satisfy the needs of the individual customer, and
the cost will be relatively similar to the standard mass-produced alternative.
For example, the ‘mi Innovation Center’ (mIC) located on the Champs Elysees in
Paris by the sporting goods company ‘adidas’ offers consumers customisation in
technology and style to design their own ‘mi adidas’ footwear. These shoes can
be customised both aesthetically and based on their personal fit and
performance needs. This involves many embedded sensors to record the
pressure of the customer’s footfall and to gauge the individual’s running
posture. This data is captured to ensure the shoes fit the specific individual. The
consumer can then customise how the shoe looks and place an order for these
individually designed shoes.
2.7.4 Design to order (DTO)
This method inverts the conventional sequence of product development and
manufacturing. The usual sequence of a product development process is to
manufacture a product and then try to sell it. However, the Japanese company
Elephant Design’s process is reversed (Devereaux, 2002). They generate design
ideas by conducting interviews with well-known artists and designers and
asking them what sort of product they would like to have. They publish
25 Collaborative customisation – producers communicate with consumers to determine the product specifications that
best serve the customer's needs. This information is then used to manufacture a product that suits that specific
customer. Adaptive customisation - a standardised product is produced but this is customisable by the end-user.
Transparent customisation - producers assess customer needs and provide individual customers with unique
products, without explicitly telling them that the products are customised. Cosmetic customisation - firms produce a
standardised physical product, but market it to different customers in unique ways. (Pine, 1993).
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