10.5 discusses the conclusions and future developments.Ĭustomization strategy should enable a company to provide the right product variety without compromising rapid response to market or impinging upon its need for efficient production. 10.4 presents the details about the simulation model and the scenarios to be evaluated. Section 10.3 presents the proposed approach, whereas Sect. Section 10.2 gives an overview of the literature related to SC management for customized production. The model is based on deep analysis of historical data from 8 companies to study the common features of their SCs and to define a model that can represent the most critical and important steps in production. large productions), and quality and delivery time of suppliers.

small production) and traditional collections (i.e. Thanks to a prototype web-based interface, a simulation model evaluates different type of performance indicators like inventory volume, order delivery, product quality for customized (i.e. This chapter proposes an approach to evaluate Supply Chain (SC) performance of customized productions characterized by small-customized orders within the footwear industry. A company may decide to offer only a few customizable products, or could adopt a fully made-to-measure strategy involving all aspects of its production. Several studies suggest that this strategy may be particularly suitable in highly competitive sectors like fashion industry, where product differentiation is a key factor to compete in the market and achieve a competitive advantage. The potential benefits of personalization are based on better adherence to customers’ requirements and the resulting customers’ satisfaction. The complexity of the footwear production is given mainly by the high variability of the product and the short life of each model requiring fast changing production systems and flexible production networks. There are several studies proposing innovative strategies for customization at the company level, but it is still needed to identify the supply-chain implications of customized productions especially in sectors like footwear where production is highly parcelled to many different suppliers and subcontractors, each of them specialised in specific operations. This is particularly relevant within the footwear industry in which customer requirements can vary widely in terms for example of fit, colours, functional and aesthetic features along different dimensions like seasons, target groups, and geographical areas. However, to realize personalized productions the application of advanced production technologies and innovative management practices. Moreover, a customized production can be a way to restore the competitiveness of European companies, enabling them to differentiate their offer from mass-productions realized in low-wage countries. Fashion industry, and in particular footwear, appears to have good possibilities in implementing product customization, since Nike and Adidas are working on materials and technologies to support this business model and also small and medium companies are becoming more and more interested in customizing their offer. It is expected that product customization will increase in the next 10 years by about 30%.

Empirical evidence indicates the growing application of product customization strategies thanks to the possibility to consider the customers’ opinion along the production process and realize goods more in line with customer’s preferences.

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