Web Tools for Supporting Mass Customization

A brief overview of state of the art of mass customization is presented, followed by general architecture for mass customization of manufactured products. The tools required to realize the architecture, and the relationships among them are described. The requirements for document description standards both within the factory and among the business community are outlined, then each of the significant components and tools needed to support the architecture are briefly described. These tools include product configurators, tools to translate customer- configured products into the business objects required for manufacturing and plant management, customer authentication, supply chain management, and by- products of mass customization technology, such as the dynamic promotion of products. The role of XML and related technologies in enabling the development of these tools is discussed.