Design Oriented Approaches to Mass Customization in Furniture Industry

The general attitude towards Mass Customization (MC) is positive. It is a key to a better access and satisfaction of the clients needs. The formal research tells us that customization is only one among many options available to firms seeking a competitive advantage [1]. Nor do companies that offer mass customization services have to forsake offering standardized products and services; they can integrate both [2]. All the functions of a company should be involved in the customization processes, which associating to three main active roles: marketing, production, and design. The research on customization has been developed mostly follows the perspectives of marketing and production organization. Therefore, we will look into some relevant issues from the design perspective. The streamline of the design research on customization is mainly focused on interaction, where some successful experiences in vehicle and PC sectors are described, and where customization plays an important role in building customer experience. A basic study of the literature shows that MC is often described in contradiction with Mass Production (MP), generating an inter-functional contrast which can be solved in 3 main ways by using a different organization of production, by using different machinery and by using different design principles in order to control the product architecture. Given this hypothesis, the research informed by this paper focuses on the investigations of some “natural” contradictions, such as which between market and design, and between production and design, in order to describe approaches and design tools which have been generated to facilitate the solution of these contradictions in different industrial sectors. The research has been done by some case studies in furniture industry, within some European and Asian companies that indicates the interest on MC is expanding in both areas, and particularly the Italian ones have developed an advanced model which is likely shifting to the emerging economies.