## 1 Introduction and Research Positioning  
Over the past four decades, product variety has grown rapidly across nearly all categories [1, 2], as companies strive to meet rising customer demand for personalized offerings [3]. In this context, the mass customization (MC) paradigm has received increasing attention from both academia and industry for its potential to combine product variety with production efficiency and flexibility [4, 5].  
Originally introduced by [PERSON] [6], MC refers to the ability to serve a large customer base with individually tailored products, combining the scale of mass production with the personalization of pre-industrial craftsmanship. [PERSON] [7] expanded this definition, emphasizing high variety and customization at prices comparable to standard goods. Thus, MC seeks to fulfill individual needs while maintaining near mass production efficiency.  
Over time, MC has evolved from a niche concept to a widely adopted strategy across industries [8, 9]. It has proven effective in sectors such as automotive, apparel, and electronics [10, 11], with successful implementations by companies like HP, Kodak, Dell, Nike,and Volkswagen [12]. MC has also demonstrated value for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) [13].  
Despite its promise, implementing MC remains complex, requiring manufacturers to adapt offerings and processes quickly and cost-effectively in response to changing customer demands [10,14]. Over the years, research has focused on enablers such as product family design, platforms, and postponement strategies [11]. Technologies like CAD [15,16] and supply chain coordination methods [17,18] also played a crucial role.  
Information systems (IS), including IT, are crucial to integrating customer input into production [13] and synchronizing data across company functions and supply chains. Online configurators and e-commerce platforms further engage customers and collect preference data [19], while web technologies and real-time interconnectivity [20,21] paved the way for a new industrial paradigm.  
The fourth industrial revolution--Industry 4.0 (I4.0)--emerged in 2011, marked by the integration of technologies such as cyber-physical systems (CPS), Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing to create smart manufacturing systems [22, 23, 24]. I4.0 and MC are closely linked: growing customization demands have driven the adoption of I4.0 technologies to achieve greater flexibility, automation, and reconfigurability [21,23]. As noted by [PERSON] et al. [25], MC is not only enabled by I4.0 but also acts as a driving force in its development.  
Numerous literature reviews on MC exist, e.g., [11,26,27], yet most predate the rise of I4.0. The disruptive nature of I4.0 calls for updated analysis on how these technologies reshaped MC and enabled new levels of personalization. A comprehensive analysis about the current technologies and methodologies commonly adopted to reach product customization is missing. This paper addresses that gap by reviewing the evolution of MC and its technological enablers between 2011 and 2024, focusing on the influence of I4.0 technologies in managing product variety. The review begins in 2011, the year Industry 4.0 was formally introduced, to capture the academic and technological evolution of MC within this paradigm. The selected time frame thus reflects the emergence, development, and consolidation of I4.0's influence on MC over the past decade.  
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the research methodology and bibliometric analysis; Section 3 presents the classification and discussion of selected papers, while Section 4 outlines key findings. Finally, Section 5 concludes the paper with final remarks and future research opportunities.