The term Mass-Customisation is a concept which embodies the ability of an organisation to customise its products, whilst maintaining the economies-of-scale afforded by mass production.
In order to meet the increasing demands of customers, manufacturers are placing more emphasis on providing tailor-made or customised products. For consumer products this might mean customising the appearance or providing options to meet individual taste. For the industrial customer, this is more likely to mean the tailoring of function to more closely meet specific performance requirements.
For an organisation to be able to mass customise effectively it is necessary not only to develop specific manufacturing practices and techniques, but also to address issues in the whole of the value chain, from suppliers through to the distribution network.