A Model for Operational Mass Customization Based Recent Studies in Furniture Manufacturing

Introduction The view among some experts that mass customization (MC) can improve the competitiveness of the US furniture industry (Bullard and West, 2002; Schuler and Buehlmann, 2003; Lihra, 2005), has implications for systemic changes in an industry that has traditionally pursued price-based competition. In this study, we examine the applicability of MC as a value-delivery strategy for furniture manufacturing, and model a framework for making its principles operational in that context. We propose an operational baseline for researchers and manufacturers exploring a link between MC and competitiveness in wood products manufacturing. This framework can be extended to other industries, given comparable manufacturing principles.

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