Mass customization capability planning with additive manufacturing

Abstract

Mass customization aims to manufacture large quantities of customized products at low costs comparable to that in mass production. However, the two operational objectives of mass customization, production flexibility and cost-efficiency, conflict with each other. In this circumstance, one of the famous prototyping technologies, additive manufacturing (AM), began to draw attention with its multiple function in the production system, which enables mass customizers to achieve the two contradictive objectives. This study defines mass customization capability planning (MCCP) as a production planning process which balances between production flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Also, the mathematical planning model of MCCP is developed to support it. Since the MCCP model includes stochastic parameters, a heuristic method is applied to the solution searching process. After, the MCCP model was validated by the experiment analysis.