A Digital Fabrication Infrastructure Enabling Distributed Design and Production of Custom Furniture

Thanks to the implementation of advanced technologies within simple-to-use responsive design interfaces, everyone can now purchase perfect-fit products from home. This is possible in several sectors, thanks to the great developments in information and communications technology (ICT) and the wide use of cloud computing. The furniture sector is yet scarcely influenced by this trend, still lacking of systems able to translate parametric design libraries in optimally scheduled, ready to be manufactured projects, correlated by list of operations and specifications for on time customers’ order fulfilment. This paper aims at describing an application model of the mass customization paradigm within the furniture sector, focusing on field-level solutions implemented to create a fully operative “design to manufacturing in one step” process. The integration of several software tools, market ready or specifically developed for the need, paved the way for the design of a seamlessly integrated production system able to manage the complexity of a mass customization environment. The proposed IT infrastructure is intended to run distributed design and production facilities fulfilling the requirements of a highly variable customer demand both in terms of product requirements and buying experience. The developed system has been tested within the context of a shopping mall where the design area and the manufacturing site have been installed for several days.

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