Democratization of Customization

This review discusses growth of mass customization since the mid-1990s of the commercial and engineered products. Almost all types of durable consumer products, including clothing, footwear, household furnishings, toys, vehicles, and electrical and electronic devices can now be customized by the buyer at the time of purchase. Mass customization is when something is efficiently customized on demand—not in advance—and it does not cost a heck of a lot more to make than it would if one were making it for everyone at once. Designers who use Shapeways create their models using the free Google Sketchup or the Rhino modeling programs, though Shapeways also offers its own Shapeways Creator program. These simple design tools—along with 3D printing techniques—have played a big role in bringing mass customization methods to the fore. Future prospects shows that the Internet will facilitate a new wave of mass customization, where customers will create and trade designs for physical products in the same way they trade music files.