In today's apparel market, under the psychological influence of recession, consumers desire to pay less for apparel while also wanting to personalize the style, fit, and color of the clothes they buy. Most of today's consumers seek high-quality customized products at low prices with faster delivery. With this consumer interest in mind, the concept of mass customization emerged in the late 1980s. Mass customization is defined as "the mass production of individually customized goods and services" by Pine (1993). Given the changing characteristics of today's consumer interests and industrial competition, mass production systems cannot satisfy both manufacturers and consumers. However, a mass customization system may achieve both manufacturer and consumer satisfaction by providing low-cost customized products.
Mass customization represents a hybrid of mass production and customization. This system incorporates the concept of serving a large market with low-cost products created through mass production, and it leverages new technology to enable manufacturers to respond to consumer demands for custom garments. To implement mass customization successfully, manufacturing processes must be flexible. For this flexibility to exist, every step in the manufacturing process must have the ability to react quickly to changes in product design and to changes in consumer interests and needs.
Mass customization represents a hybrid of mass production and customization. This system incorporates the concept of serving a large market with low-cost products created through mass production, and it leverages new technology to enable manufacturers to respond to consumer demands for custom garments. To implement mass customization successfully, manufacturing processes must be flexible. For this flexibility to exist, every step in the manufacturing process must have the ability to react quickly to changes in product design and to changes in consumer interests and needs.
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