of a product can be serious disadvantages. What is more, higher raw material costs, delayed deliveries lower product quality (Ahlstrom and Westbrook, 1999) and the fact that firms implementing mass customization processes and continuous improvement required totally different organizational structures and training techniques (Selladurai, 2004) can constitute great drawbacks. 2.2.2 of Mass Customization In his paper, Selladurai (2004) presents five ways which a company can incorporate the mass customization construct into reality. These methods are Part Standardization, Process Standardization, Product Standardization, Partial Standardization and Procurement Standardization and they are depicted in figure 1. If a company uses common parts or components for different products, it gains in terms of cost, inventory and forecasting. Part standardization is used in companies with machinery products that use the same components in different product lines. As for process standardization, the author claims that it is used when companies delay the customization to the latest scales of the supply chain, in order to benefit themselves from the economies of scale. A critical example of this method is Hewlett-Packard and the components of its printers. The third way is called product standardization and it concerns firms that a wide variety of products but stock only a few of ‘”advertise the (standardized items)” (Selladurai, 2004). When a customer orders an item, which is not in stock, the firm should either produce that item or deputize it with one of higher functionality or speed; it is a common strategy in the car rental industry What is more, procurement standardization refers to businesses, which get common components, when they produce a large assortment of products. In that way, those businesses aim to profit from the reduced costs of common equipment acquisition. Lastly, partial standardization is adopted by firms that keep their products standardized, while providing narrow alternatives for their customers. A classic example of the current form is in computer industry, where consumers have to pick between some standardized types of processors or operating RAMs. Figure 1: Methods to Achieve Mass Customization (Selladurai, 2004, p.296)
of a product can be serious disadvantages. What is more, higher raw material costs, delayed deliveries lower product quality (Ahlstrom and Westbrook, 1999) and the fact that firms implementing mass customization processes and continuous improvement required totally different organizational structures and training techniques (Selladurai, 2004) can constitute great drawbacks. 2.2.2 of Mass Customization In his paper, Selladurai (2004) presents five ways which a company can incorporate the mass customization construct into reality. These methods are Part Standardization, Process Standardization, Product Standardization, Partial Standardization and Procurement Standardization and they are depicted in figure 1. If a company uses common parts or components for different products, it gains in terms of cost, inventory and forecasting. Part standardization is used in companies with machinery products that use the same components in different product lines. As for process standardization, the author claims that it is used when companies delay the customization to the latest scales of the supply chain, in order to benefit themselves from the economies of scale. A critical example of this method is Hewlett-Packard and the components of its printers. The third way is called product standardization and it concerns firms that ‘”advertise a wide variety of products but stock only a few of the (standardized items)” (Selladurai, 2004). When a customer orders an item, which is not in stock, the firm should either produce that item or deputize it with one of higher functionality or speed; it is a common strategy in the car rental industry What is more, procurement standardization refers to businesses, which get common components, when they produce a large assortment of products. In that way, those businesses aim to profit from the reduced costs of common equipment acquisition. Lastly, partial standardization is adopted by firms that keep their products standardized, while providing narrow alternatives for their customers. A classic example of the current form is in computer industry, where consumers have to pick between some standardized types of processors or operating RAMs. Figure 1: Methods to Achieve Mass Customization (Selladurai, 2004, p.296)