When I was a teen (1970’s), the coolest place for car alarm systems was Ross Stereo located on the West-side of Los Angeles. Ross developed very custom systems tailored to the car and the owner’s specifications. My cousin, Bill, tried out one of them. Ross showed my cousin a Cadillac whose motor was running, windows down, and doors locked. Ross told my cousin to drive it away. My cousin accepted and got into the car, and shifted it into “drive.” Immediately, the engine shut off, the windows went up, the doors locked, and the alarm sounded leaving my cousin helplessly trapped in the car. A “custom crook catcher.”
This kind of product customization had only been available to those who can afford to pay for it. Things are changing, though. Gandhi, et al, article, How technology can drive the next wave of mass customization discusses how mass customization is really close for the individual. For example, can you imagine buying a shirt that is made to fit your body type?
Gandhi writes, “We believe the time for widespread, profitable mass customization may finally have come, the result of emerging or improved technologies that can help address economic barriers to responding to consumers’ exact needs in a more precise way.”
The operative words are “profitable” and “mass.” Sure, you can customize most anything, but in a profitable way for the masses? This was only a dream a short time ago.
Another example is one shown to me by Doctor Lester Silverman of Look Optometry in Manhattan Beach. Dr. Silverman showed me a set of frames that can be immediately customized for a prescription. The use of such frames could be for a vacationer who has lost or broken their glasses. The patient would need an emergency replacement pair but are leaving on the bus in a couple of hours. Now, these are not your designer frames, but just a temporary pair that Dr. Silverman would create using a machine in his office. As far as your designer glasses, he told me that there are so many different frames and patient requirements that this kind of in-house manufacturing is not here, yet, but the trend has started. But the day is probably not far away where most designer frames can be customized while you wait instead of sending the order to a lab, that will return them in a week.
The problem has always been cost,but Gandhi proclaims, “Mass customization has the potential to help companies increase revenue and gain competitive advantage, improve cash flow, and reduce waste through on-demand production.”
The technology is here in many situations for mass customization. 3-D scanning is an example.
In your strategic planning sessions, you should identify the trends as “opportunities.” When you develop your strategic plan, you should always look 10-20 years in the future. If you are a small– medium sized business, you are most likely not going to develop these technologies. (If you do, then your strategy should be designed for a rapid expansion.) However, your strategy should be tailored for growth.
Back in the early 1950’s Admiral Television manufacturer took a chance and sponsored Sid Cesar’s comedy show. Their strategy was to sponsor a show that would help promote this new form of entertainment in the home. The problem with their strategy is that they did not anticipate the massive demand for televisions. They were forced to stop sponsoring Sid Cesar’s show because they needed the resources to build new television manufacturing plants to meet the demand for televisions. Our first television was an Admiral (blonde wood finish).
Obviously there are two areas you must examine: Increased value to customer and control cost of customization. According to the article, the aspects that must be considered are marketing, sales, product/service development, operations, supply chain, and IT infrastructure.
In any event, in strategic planning and implementation you should always keep one eye on the horizon and the other on the step in front of you.