Mitchell M. Tseng and Frank T. Piller

18   	The Customer at the Final Frontier of Mass Customization 

Carsten Svensson1 and Thomas Jensen2
1 Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Management, Technical University of Denmark,
Lyngby, Denmark
2 Danish Technological Institute, Center for Production, Taastrup, Denmark

Mass customization is no longer new. A decade of industrial experience have shown how this business paradigm has been used - and abused. Some companies report on a successful implementation leading to a radically improved business while others have not managed to fully exploit the promised potential. At this point in the evolution of mass customization one may look back and examine these cases with the purpose to empirically determine the factors influencing a successful application of mass customization. However, one may also look into the future and speculate how mass customization may be further exploited. With this in mind, we will discuss in this chapter which factors may limit the further expansion of mass customization. We will argue that the customer is the major limiting factor at the final frontier of mass customization. Until now mass customization has mainly focused on the product. In this chapter we show that there is a need for an increased focus on the fulfillment of customer needs. As a result manufacturers have to balance new trade-offs if the paradigm of mass customization becomes a commodity. This chapter's objective is to open a discussion within research communities working with mass customization. Thus, more questions are raised than answered.