Architectural Holarchy of the Next Generation Manufacturing System

Nowadays, the global energy network can generate and transmit, between any two points belonging to it, high quantity of energy. During recent years, a global information network, able to process, store, and transmit huge amounts of information, has been developed as well. These networks entirely cover the industrial space, already giving the opportunity to make permanently available, in any of its points, at any time, as much as needed, both energy and information. On the other hand, the mass customization trend has led to the pronounced increase of “manufacturing to order” (MTO) production, taking place in a higher and higher number of small & medium enterprises. At this level, a given manufacturing system cannot be quickly and appropriately configured to a given product, due to production high variability in range. As consequence, the manufacturing system is, quite always, more or less unadjusted to the manufactured product, its performance being significantly affected. Starting from here, the challenge is to make a conceptual rebuilding of the manufacturing system, aiming to increase its degree of appropriateness to products, by taking advantage from the opportunities brought by the existence of global energy & information networks. This paper approach is to see the next generation manufacturing system as holonic modular cyber-physical system. System architecture permanently accords to the manufactured product requirements. The function, procedure, topology and holarchy model of the system are presented. The main features of the system are also revealed.

Production Scheduling of Personalized Fashion Goods in a Mass Customization Environment

The COVID-19 pandemic has put fashion manufacturers’ needs for optimization in the spotlight. This study argues that mass customization is becoming increasingly instrumental for offering consumers individualized solutions and that suppliers of fashion have to look for more sophisticated solutions in order to face the increasing demand for more sustainable products. With the deduction of a mathematical model derived from production sequencing it became evident that sustainability can be associated with a level production schedule and that cost-based production optimization is useful in achieving holistic sustainability in the fashion industry. The flexibility in the conceived mathematical model specifications allows for a generalizable approach, not limited to a single branch of the fashion industry. This paper additionally delivers a cost-based optimization approach which fashion companies, operating in a mass customization production layout, can easily implement without extensive know-how. The proposed two-stage algorithm is based on the concept of level scheduling. In a first stage, the algorithm determines a feasible production sequence in a time-efficient way while, in the second stage, it further advances the efficiency of the solution. Thus, it offers a framework to optimize a production in a mass customization environment and can contribute to a company taking major steps towards a holistic sustainable orientation as available resources are used more (cost) efficiently.

FLOW EXPERIENCE AND CONSUMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY IN ONLINE MASS CUSTOMIZATION PROCESSES

This research aims to identify the effects of perceived product value and flow experience during product design on willingness to pay (WTP) and purchase probability in online mass customization. The participants were asked to design shoes to their taste in a custom shoe website. After the design experience, the participants were asked to complete the questionnaire. The analyses suggest that flow experience has a direct effect on consumers’ WTP and an indirect effect on purchase probability through the mediating role of perceived value of mass customized products. Furthermore, perceived value of a mass customized product has a significant effect on purchase probability and no effect on WTP found in the analyses.

Contemporary customized clothes using folk motifs

More and more consumers are attracted to fashion brands that make an extra effort to offer them personalized experiences. The unique details, as well as the complexity of the decorative elements of the folk costume inspire the fashion designers to return to the folk motifs, which they reinterpret and resize while integrating them in the contemporary space, offering models adapted to the customers’ tastes, sizes and preferences and at the same time to make mass customization a profitable production. This study addresses the issue of personalizing clothing items with folk motifs. In order to collect information on consumer satisfaction regarding the use of folk motifs in contemporary clothing, an online survey about the clothing available on the market and about personalized clothes with folk motifs was developed and applied. The survey was applied to a number of 548 respondents from Romania, Bulgaria, Canada and Spain. To determine the correlation between the answers to the questions for the four countries and to analyse the answers in each country, the PCA method was used. Based on the answers to the survey, certain motifs from the folk costumes were selected, reinterpreted in a modern way and inserted in two fabric patterns. The fabrics were produced on a Loom Jacquard SMIT Textile GS900.

Linking supply network flexibility with mass customization capability

Purpose The importance of supply network flexibility (SNF) in the development of mass customization capability (MCC) has been implied in the literature but seldom subjected to empirical investigation. To fill the gap and contribute to MC literature, this paper aims to examine the role of SNF in facilitating the development of MCC of organizations. Furthermore, it has been investigated whether the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) strengthens the above relationship. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the supply chain literature and dynamic capability theory, the study proposes a research framework depicting the interconnectedness among the variables of interest. The proposed framework has been tested using structural equation modelling based on partial least squares by using the data collected from a questionnaire-based survey of a sample of Indian manufacturing organizations. Findings The findings indicate that the dimensions of SNF, namely, sourcing flexibility and supplier flexibility, positively affect the MCC of the organizations and the strength of these relationships is further amplified by the implementation of ICTs. Practical implications The study shows the managerial opportunities for the development of a flexible and competent supply network to facilitate the development or enhancement of MCC. Originality/value This study contributes to scant literature by providing empirical evidence for the relationship between SNF and MCC. Further, this study enriches the understanding of the crucial role of ICT by exploring its moderating effect on the relationship between the variables of interest.