A modelling approach for dedicated machinery to support the effects of mass customisation
In recent years the strategy of mass customisation has become being increasingly adopted as manufacturers seek to exploit market trends for greater product variety and individualisation. The implications of changing to mass customisation practice are considerable, specifically for the equipment producing the product. It is common practice within manufacturing companies to rely on trial-and-error approaches to develop their existing processing equipment for new or variant products. The approach presented in this paper employs the capability of a modelling environment to represent and simulate variations in machine design configuration and assess their ability to process variant products. The approach is demonstrated on an example from the packaging industry.
mass customisation process modelling manufacturing systems evolution product variation