Description
SPRINGER Information And Management Systems For Product Customization by BLECKER
In today's competitive environment, manufacturing and service companies are intensifying their customization processes. Customization means companies must meet the challenge of providing individualized products and services, without introducing high costs. Therefore, companies must address both customization and cost factors to gain a competitive advantage. While product customization is the manufacturing of products according to individual customer needs, it does not involve any focus on the cost perspective. Information and Management Systems for Product Customization will concentrate on both product customization and costs' efficiency, which is termed as mass customization. Moreover, mass customization with its multi-dimensions is the new business paradigm challenging today's manufacturing companies. Table of Figures.- Table of Symbols.- Preface.- Introduction.- Part I: Fundamentals of Product Customization; Product Customization: Theoretical Basics; Mass Customization and Complexity; A Customers' Needs Model for Mass Customization.- Part II: An IT Infrastructure for Effective and Efficient Product Customization; Customer Oriented Interaction Systems; A Multi-Agent System for Coping with Variety Induced Complexity; Implementation Scenarios of the Information Systems.- Part III: Concepts for Implementing an Efficient Product Customization; Product Modularity in Mass Customization; Key Metrics System Based Management Tool for Variety Steering and Complexity Evaluation.- Conclusions.- References.- Index.- Authors.