Defining Solution Spaces for Customizations

Customization in different flavors have been identified as an important differentiator if low-cost competitiveness is not viable. To provide a customer unique solution is however not the same as providing a solution that is designed and individualized for a particular delivery to a customer. These two cases are illustrations of how customer requirements may be fulfilled differently depending on the match between stated requirements and the solution offered. The range of solutions that can be offered is represented by a solution space consisting of either predefined or postdefined solutions. Predefined refers to solutions that are defined before commitment to a customer and postdefined refers to solutions that are defined after commitment to a customer. Both cases are constrained by a boundary of possible solutions but the postdefined solutions provide opportunities for bounded innovation beyond what the predefined solutions can provide. Combining the properties of the different solution spaces provides not only an operational definition of customization but also supports in identifying strategic opportunities for extending the solutions and types of customizations a business provides.