Abstract

DI PIERRI D, Carla. From mass production to mass customization: consumers’ wants and new technologies as factors shaping the change. Argos [online]. 2006, vol.23, n.44, pp.21-31. ISSN 0254-1637.

The change in consumers’ wants and demands, as well as technologies advances, have been responsible for the change of the old mass production paradigm into a new one - the mass customisation. The latter consists in products’ customization in a massive scale at a relatively low cost, in order to develop competitive advantages. This paper aims at illustrating how this change happened and which factors have to be taken into account by firms that decide to follow this strategy; such aspects considered of interest in view of the fact that this paradigm represents an important trend worldwide, so it is thought to gain ground in the near future.

Keywords : mass customization; mass production; consumption; enterprise; paradigm.