Towards product customization: An integrated order fulfillment system

To stay competitive, manufacturing companies nowadays pursue product customization; and configure-to-order (CTO) has been recognized as an ideal business model to implement product customization. Due to the complexities resulting from the large number of customized products, an increased attention h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Computers in industry 2010-04, Vol.61 (3), p.213-222
Main Authors: Zhang, Linda L., Lee, Carman K.M., Xu, Qianli
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Automation
Business administration
Business models
Computer aided design
Computer science
control theory
systems
Configure-to-order
Control theory. Systems
Customization
Exact sciences and technology
Firm modelling
Humanities and Social Sciences
Information sharing
Information systems. Data bases
Integration
Memory organisation. Data processing
Operational research and scientific management
Operational research. Management science
Order fulfillment process
Order picking
Order processing
Process control. Computer integrated manufacturing
Product configuration
Product customization
Real time
Software
Studies
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Summary:To stay competitive, manufacturing companies nowadays pursue product customization; and configure-to-order (CTO) has been recognized as an ideal business model to implement product customization. Due to the complexities resulting from the large number of customized products, an increased attention has been paid to the order fulfillment process in CTO. However, most of the solutions delivered either focus on own interested areas without considering the impacts from/on the others or approach order fulfillment processes from a strategic level. In view of the limitations of existing solutions and the significance of order fulfillment activity automation and integration, this study considers the entire spectrum of order fulfillment process at an operational level and, proposes an integrated order fulfillment system (IOFS). The IOFS is designed to (1) automatically execute order processing, which is conventionally undertaken in a face-to-face manner; (2) configure products and process plans based on product and process family models; and (3) allow real-time data extraction and sharing of the latest information. Therefore, it assists companies to quickly respond to diverse customer requirements and deliver the expected products at low costs. An industrial example of turn unit assemblies is presented to demonstrate the feasibility and potential of the IOFS for product customization.
ISSN:0166-3615
1872-6194
DOI:10.1016/j.compind.2009.09.003