Mass customization aims at satisfying individual customer needs while keeping mass production efficiency. This paper discusses the employment of concurrent engineering for realizing mass customization. Concurrent design for mass customization (CDFMC) is put forward by extending the traditional...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a methodological approach to develop customized products which offer true customer value and achieve superior competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – An integrated framework is presented where both front‐ and back‐end...

Purpose – This paper proposes a relationship between decision making and key qualities of business systems. Design/methodology/approach – The authors explore the relationship between decision making and systems by contrasting the decision making in two well‐known systems: MRP and JIT. The...

Firms operating in an international environment face a host of uncertainties that make it difficult to meet deadlines reliably. To be reliable in an uncertain and changing environment, firms must be able to quickly respond to changes. The ability to do this in a useful time frame is called...

Compressing the time from idea to market has become a focal competitive priority of global manufacturing companies. Develops a framework that assesses the strategic value of a company in terms of its “time” performance. The primary tool employed to accomplish this is an agility matrix whose...

Purpose – The paper seeks to report on some of the preliminary results of an ongoing scoping study into the shape of the manufacturing enterprise of the future. Design/methodology/approach – This paper evolved through a combination of literature review, focused group discussions, interviews...