The research is based on developing a manufacturing model for mass customization ability, as all operations in the product design, manufacturing, and delivery processes must be better coordinated and integrate[13]. To solve internal and external supply chain quality challenges, managers must use manufacturing and organizational design principles to improve mass customization capabilities [21]. Suppliers and customers amalgamation has a major impact on the agility and flexibility of an organization, which is necessary for MC capabilities[34]. Tookanlou and Wong [35] identified mass customization as a promising technique that has grabbed the interest of practitioners and researchers due to its potential to help firms gain a competitive advantage, generate profits and minimize waste through on-demand production. The hypotheses offered in this study are based on the four pillars of mass customization proposed by Hart (1995) and further strengthened by investigating the relationship between MC ability for competitive advantage from the extant literature. The constructs, related measurement items are presented in Table 1.
2.1 Customer sensitivity: The uniqueness of customers' demands and consumer sacrifice for unmet needs are the primary drivers of customer customization sensitivity [1]. To create mass customization capability, organizations must improve their operational efficiency, which necessitates the interchange of information between customers, salespeople, and technical personnel [36]. Customers must transform their wants and demands into particular product requirements [22] by customizing, setting, matching, or altering a solution, limiting the solution space to options already represented in the system's fulfillment, and converting consumer co-design data into customer knowledge for strategic planning and innovation [37][38]. Customer input to establish features and pricing requirements of personalized products to meet consumers' particular requirements cheaply and promptly [39], and a study of consumer buying patterns[40] can contribute to success in this field. Quick customer response for the implementation of mass customization is built on a system that connects consumer voice to product design, customer relationship management, regular market surveys, and understanding client grievances for product improvement [41]. Thus, the following hypotheses were advanced:
Hypothesis H1
Customer sensitivity is positively related to MC ability
Table 1
Constructs, Measurement items with factor loads
Constructs
|
Measurement Items
|
Factor Loads
|
Cronbach’s Alpha (> 0.70)
|
Item R-Square
|
CITC
(> 0.30)
|
Customer Sensitivity
|
CS1 Identify opportunities for customization
CS2 Understand the uniqueness of customers’ needs and create value
CS3 Analyze customers sacrifice for unmet needs
CS4 Provide ease of customer choice for decision making
CS5 Create value for the customer
CS6 Incorporate customer requirement during new design process
|
0.902
0.927
0.845
0.883
0.926
0.865
|
0.958
|
0.814
0.859
0.714
0.780
0.857
0.748
|
0.714–0.874
|
Process Amenability
|
PA1 Incorporate modularity in design, for part flexibility
PA2 Develop compatible process technology
PA3 Develop production and distribution process for timely delivery
PA4 Develop supplier for co-design
PA5 Develop marketing competence for product promotion
|
0.825
0.765
0.881
0.872
0.863
|
0.924
|
0.681
0.585
0.776
0.760
0.745
|
0.635–0.784
|
Competitive Environment
|
CE1 Economic uncertainty
CE2 Market Turbulence
CE3 Company credibility and position in marketplace
CE4 Customer loyalty
CE5 Potential of competitors to react
|
0.771
0.758
0.851
0.868
0.873
|
0.917
|
0.594
0.575
0.724
0.753
0.762
|
0562-O.835
|
Organizational readiness
|
OR1 Cultural change in the organization
OR2 Skill development of employees
OR3 Employee’s involvement in product and process roadmap
OR4 Training to marketing team to capture and prioritize requirements
OR5 Top management support and leadership building
|
0.866
0.924
0.869
0.914
0.918
|
0.954
|
0.750
0.854
0.755
0.835
0.843
|
0.754–0.867
|
Mass Customization Ability
|
MC1 Product can be customized on large scale
MC2 Product variety can be enhanced at same cost and quality
MC3 Product can be designed based on customers’ requirements
MC4 Product can be delivered on stipulated time
|
0.848
0.833
0.862
0.830
|
0.908
|
0.719
0.654
0.740
0.689
|
0.647–0.782
|
Competitive advantage
|
CA1 Market share growth and Reaching financial goals
CA2 Acquiring new customer
CA3 Increased sales volume/ Return on sales/revenue
CA4 Increased product variety
CA5 Reduce waste through on demand production
|
0.815
0.812
0.846
0.783
0.813
|
0.906
|
0.664
0.659
0.716
0.613
0.661
|
0.584–0.703
|
2.2 Process Amenability: Enablers, marketing and strategy, design, production, and distribution are all part of this diverse region[1]. New technology must be integrated and coordinated with humans and organizations to successfully execute mass customization [42]. Flexible manufacturing techniques are required by MC to help businesses become first to market with unique, custom-made items. [43] to manage the complexity of mass customization [44]. Increasing product variety implies richer information flows, which in turn necessitates increased scheduling and coordination complications inside the organization [13][45], giving rise to increased information processing needs [13]. Organizations need to establish suitable information infrastructure to expedite regular communication and information with suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders [46][29][42], to keep close communication with its supplier for design consideration[47], and determine interface specifications to ensure module combinability[14]. Encompassing suppliers in quality enhancement and new product improvement helps a company to tap into their capabilities and competencies, which can moderate new product development expenses and lead times while also minimizing component mismatches [48][49]. Collaboration with suppliers for new product development and standards by firms is vital since modules require consistent specification [21]. Modular product design is based on modular components that may be assembled into several end products [50] as well as the reuse of the same modules across several end products [51], resulting in increased product volume and variety [12]. Modularity primarily influences the desirability of products by developing tenuously connected modules that may be procured from vendors [32] and merged according to consumer requirements and manufacturing processes [52]. It is critical to maintain constant, direct contact with customers and involve them in the design process to incorporate values that are important to them into the design [32]. Managers, according to Zhang, Lettice, and Zhao[39], must communicate with consumers and suppliers at the same time to incorporate MC concepts throughout the design phase. The following hypotheses are based on the previous reasoning
Hypothesis H2
Process Amenability is positively related to MC ability.
2.3 Competitive Environment- Competitive environment, economic uncertainty, market turbulence, firm credibility and position in the marketplace, as well as consumer loyalty, are all elements to consider in the journey to mass customization [1]. Researchers have advocated that enterprises who change from mass production to the novel paradigm of mass customization will acquire a competitive benefit [8] due to the growing awareness of mass customization. Organizations require a greater diversity of supply to meet heterogeneous and changeable consumer demand, which upsurges the ambiguity in forecasting demand for each type of product. This causes scarcities, quality concerns, and extended lead times in supplier parts, which causes manufacturing delays and limits a company's capacity to mass customise[13]. To successfully adapt to altering market wants, MC capability development necessitates extraordinary levels of process flexibility and agility inside a company[53], as well as excellent internal integration across multiple roles. The conception of mass customization has been in practice to improve an organization's ability to respond fast to dynamic changes in the global marketplace [27]. This method cannot only improve resilience, preserve operations, and support personnel during economic downturns, but also maintain a competitive advantage and accelerate business growth[41]. The following hypothesis is proposed based on the above research findings:
Hypothesis H3
Competitive Environment is positively related to MC ability.
2.4 Organizational readiness: Organizational readiness demands a thorough examination of the organization's approaches, culture, and resources [54] to determine the extent of similarity between the commercial opportunity offered by mass customization and the organization's capacity to profit on it [1]. To attain new and innovative forms of competitive advantage, enterprises must integrate, build, and reconfigure available resources to satisfy the expectations of a continually changing environment [17]. Before transitioning from a conventional mass production setup to a successful MC firm, enterprises must make significant changes to their historical mindsets and practices [55], since mass customization involves true change management initiatives in existing enterprises [37]. To resolve the hindrances faced by organizations while implementing mass customization, intensification of the training of designer and personnel reassignment needs to be considered for implementation of MC ability and enhancing their market competitiveness[28]. Organizational performance necessitates a group of workers with cross-functional skills to foster creativity and innovation throughout the entire value chain to improve MC's ability to achieve organizational goals [29]. Mass customization is presented as a marketing concept that allows for the acquisition of a large number of customers while providing the opportunity to personalize the product [56]. Hence organizations require to bring a cultural change, involve their workforce in all phases of MC implementation, upgrade and train employees for MC innovative ideas, train its marketing team to understand the desire of customer and market requirements that need to be converted into various MC aspects of design. Such organizational readiness brings about operational agility for MC adaptation and implementation. Organizations having unique operational capabilities with collaborative relationships with the suppliers, flexible, innovative, and adaptive work culture has strong MC ability[29]. Tung, Baird, and Schoch [57] emphasized that top management's participation in problem resolution was crucial during crisis and conflict, therefore all across the execution phase, it was essential to simultaneously enhance production, process, and product on the strategic and tactical level, which might be a challenging assignment for top management.[40]. Effective leadership for analyzing future market potential, participation to ensure technical, economic, and personnel support, aid during obstructions, and strategic monitoring of MC projects and appraisal of their progress are the most important criteria for mass customization success[41]. Organizations that are flexible ensure mobility, agility, and adaptability, are more capable to reduce the response time to demand changes[58]. Companies that are self-sufficient, self-organized, linked with intelligent digitalization and forms of communication, and seem to have independent entity management teams, utilize additional supplier networks, guarantee better supply chains' capacity and access to external resources, have a protocol in place and diverse supply alternatives, and facilitate collaboration among supply chains are more ready for MC implementation. Thus, the following hypotheses are proposed:
Hypothesis H4
Organizational readiness is positively related to MC ability.
2.5 Mass customization ability- MC is becoming a more important strategic goal as competition grows and customers become more assertive[19]. The ability to manage change has the potential to improve operational, market, environmental, and financial performance[56]. When faced with fierce competition, many businesses want to improve their MC skills to outperform their rivals [6]. An organization's effective application of mass-customization gives a competitive edge in the industry [53] and aligns manufacturing with customer needs, satiating client desires[59][60], which is regarded as a key aspect for any organization's competitiveness ([21][56][61]]). Manufacturing agility can improve organizational performance by generating operational efficiency and strategic competitive advantages [60]. If each product's originality or clarity of innovation is maintained, a diverse range of options stimulates customers and opens the door to increased sales, profit margins, and revenues [43][62]]. The following hypothesis is proposed based on the previous arguments:
Hypothesis H5
Mass customization ability is positively related to competitive advantage
2.8 Research Model Fig. 1 illustrates the proposed research model, the hypothesized relationship, and the equivalent which has been previously explained in the hypotheses development section.