TOC and TQM Utilized in a Mass Customization Production Environment
Lead TimeManagement of enterprisesVarianceApparel IndustryTheory of ConstraintsMass CustomizationTotal Quality ManagementFöretagsledningManagementBusiness and Economics
Background: Mass customization has been identified as a competitive business strategy by both companies and academics because of its ability to incorporate the voice of the customer into companies? products and services. Although mass customization may sound appealing, the strategic concept is still developing and firms adopting this business strategy face several challenges. Production concerns are of high relevance since mass customization implies a high level of customer involvement in the product design. Since the areas are closely linked it is reasonable to ask how a mass customization strategy affects production concerns. Can companies relay on classic production strategy tools to make the most out of mass customization? Purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to emphasize production management concerns derived from mass customization.This is achieved by conducting a case study and cross breeding mass customization together with the management theories TOC and TQM. Methodology:The methodology chosen in this thesis is a case study approach. This implies that both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used. The methodology contains a detailed review of the authors work process, including the methods used in the data collection process. To strengthen the analysis of the thesis, solutions inspired from the theoretical framework are implemented in the case study object's production. Conclusions:The studied form of mass customization causes high production variances which increases the probability of creating production bottlenecks and thus enlarge the risk of limiting the production output. The main impacts of mass customization, affecting variance, are a high product variability derived from multiple product attribute choices. This thesis further concludes that mass customization implies a higher risk of product quality issues. TOC is considered a suitable management tool for mass customization manufacturers, since it highlights the concern of variance and bottlenecks. TQM is a suitable roadmap for mass customizing firms to achieve improvements of product quality.