Mass-Customization Through Digital Manufacturing

Abstract

Manufacturing is an ever-evolving process that constantly changes how products are developed. Changes in manufacturing can affect society and companies worldwide resulting in innovative new products and processes. Industrial Designers are critical to new product development and must always stay on the cutting edge of technology. As technology changes, so must the processes associated with new product development. This study will show that on-demand manufacturing techniques are becoming more popular and may become the industry standard in specialty categories. Therefore, a new product development process is needed to keep up with new technologies currently in the market place. Research will pinpoint the need for user-customized products that can be manufactured using the process set forth in this study. This study will present various solutions for selling user customizable on-demand products that will benefit designers, customers, and consumers.