Review of order fulfilment models for Catalogue Mass Customization

Mass Customization (MC) is not a mature business strategy and hence it is not clear that a single or small group of operational models are dominating. Companies tend to approach MC from either a mass production or a customization origin (Duray 2002) and this in itself gives reason to believe that several operational models will be observable. This paper reviews actual and theoretical fulfilment systems that enterprises could apply when offering a pre-engineered catalogue of customizable products and options. Issues considered are: How product flows are structured in relation to processes, inventories and decoupling point(s); • Characteristics of the OF process that inhibit or facilitate fulfilment; • The logic of how products are allocated to customers; • Customer factors that influence OF process design and operation. Diversity in the order fulfilment structures is expected and is found in the literature. The review has identified four structural forms that have been used in a Catalogue MC context: • fulfilment from stock; • fulfilment from a single fixed decoupling point; • fulfilment from one of several fixed decoupling points; • fulfilment from several locations, with floating decoupling points. From the review it is apparent that producers are being imaginative in coping with the demands of high variety, high volume, customization and short lead times. These demands have encouraged the relationship between product, process and customer to be re-examined. Not only has this strengthened interest in commonality and postponement, but, as is reported in the paper, has led to the re-engineering of the order fulfilment process to create models with multiple fixed decoupling points and the floating decoupling point system.