Customization

This section of the wiki addresses the customization of the shoe from the company’s1 point of view and not from a Personal And Subjective Perspective (Customer Perspective). Indeed we address the capability of the design and manufacturing system to satisfy a given customization requirement, which is generally defined by the strategic market positioning of the product (shoe) trough the general management.

Customization affects the whole value chain of the company, such as the supply chain, design, manufacturing system logistics, sale and services. Each level of customization has a well-defined impact on the processes that build the value chain and define the shoe product life cycle. Here we highlight the impact that the capability to satisfy a customer desire has on the shoe design and the manufacturing system.

When we combine high levels of capabilities we have a dramatic impact on all processes. The sales outlet demands more complex and high technology and the design needs new functions and operations. Additionally, on the manufacturing side it will be a real challenge and a quest for the exceeding flexibility to handle a virtually “infinite” range of products. Last but not least keeping manufacturing costs at a level appropriate to the amount of money the costumer is ready to pay for the customized shoes, is a real challenge.

It is proposed to address mass customization2 by dividing its impact into three main sections according to the three main aspects of the shoe. The result may be plotted on a three branches radar graph. The figure below shows this approach including three examples. The Capability to satisfy aesthetics customization, Capability to satisfy functional request and Capability to satisfy fitting are also considered from the point of view of the shoe design and manufacturing system. It is to be noted that we do not map, as an example, FIT itself, but the capability of the design and manufacturing system to satisfy a given fit. By grading the three axes with a given customization requirement and connecting them, we obtain different triangles. Each triangle represents a manufacturing system that can provide that specific customization degree as explained in the three examples below. We refer mainly to a design and manufacturing system of the shoe but it is also possible to use this representation, modified accordingly, for the sale and after-sale systems.

cust.png

Examples: Example 1, Example 2, Example 3

See also:
Capability to satisfy aesthetics customization, Capability to satisfy functional request, Capability to satisfy fitting
Personal And Subjective Perspective
How the capabilities to satisfy customizations impact on shoe production
How the capabilities to satisfy customizations impacts on shoe style concept
How the capabilities to satisfy customizations impact on product development
How the capabilities to satisfy customizations impacts on shoe manufacturing