Mass Customization & Open Innovation News

Guest Article: Mass customization of musical instruments (in German language)

It has been a long time that I posted to this blog more than an event announcement – life as a German university professor keeps you really busy during the semester. But to keep up postings running, I got help from some members of our mass customization community.

In a first guest article, Jan Palkoska comments on a field not covered n the previous discussion of mass customization: the customization of musical instruments. Jan wrote his master's thesis on this topic, focusing on the customization process of drums. As he finds, customization is the predominant pattern in this industry, but the execution of mass customization principles is often just at the beginning. Often, craft customization dominates. Reading his thesis, I was reminded at the bicycle industry, where also many mid- and high-end bikes are being customized in form of craft customization in retail.

His article is in German language, but you may let Google translate the text, or just jump to the end of the text where you will find a number of examples for offerings of custom drums in English.

For more information, contact Jan Palkoska at janpalkoska@gmx.de

Vermarktung individualisierter Musikinstrumente – Ein Vergleich verschiedener Angebote in der Schlagzeugindustrie. Von Jan Palkoska.

Musikinstrumente erscheinen auf den ersten Blick relativ ungeeignet für Individualisierungsbemühungen: So kommen Umsetzungen individueller Vorstellungen bei Instrumenten einer klassischen Orchesterbesetzung schon von daher kaum vor, da sich in den meisten Fällen – etwa Streich- oder Blasinstrumenten – eine traditionelle Bauform zugunsten eines optimalen Klangerlebnisses bewährt und allgemein durchgesetzt hat. Durchaus denkbar sind persönliche Anpassungen oder Einstellungen in Einzelfällen; diese betreffen aber nicht die grundsätzliche Konstruktion, und auch ästhetische Veränderungen, obwohl dies durchaus denkbar wäre, sind insgesamt unüblich – abgesehen von wirtschaftlich nicht nennenswerten Zuwendungen, die dem Einzelkünstler den Acrylglasflügel nicht entbehren lassen.

Außerhalb des klassischen Bereichs hält die instrumentelle Welt aber durchaus zahlreiche Vertreter vor, welche zur Umsetzung persönlicher Wünsche geradezu einladen, vor allem nämlich diejenigen, welche der Konfiguration bedürfen und je nach Bauweise einen höchst individuellen Klang und extravagante Erscheinungsbilder zu lassen: zum Beispiel Schlagzeuge.

Drummers of today are spoiled by the plethora of custom made drums (nearly equaling the number of production drums).

Wie dieses Zitat von Falzerano (1994) aus dem Jahre 1994 zeigt, haben die Hersteller von Schlagzeugen recht früh die Vorteile kundenindividueller Produkte erkannt und sie entsprechend vermarktet.

Auf der NAMM Show 2008, der Messe für Musikinstrumente in den USA, waren von einundvierzig Schlagzeug-Ausstellern lediglich siebzehn als reine Serienfertiger zu bewerten; während die Präsenz existierender Serienhersteller auf der Messe nahezu komplett war, ist davon auszugehen, dass die vertretenen Customizer im Vergleich zu weiteren Customizern die deutlich kleinere Gruppe war: bereits im Internet sind weitere achtzig bis neunzig Unternehmen vertreten.

Zwar sind die meisten dieser Firmen kleine Handwerksbetriebe, doch auch sie vermarkten ihre Produkte global und genießen unter Musikern ein hohes Ansehen. Trotz kleinerer Firmenstrukturen bedienen sich diese Hersteller zunehmend typischer Mass Customization Tools, allen voran Konfiguratoren. Dadurch wird auch die Einteilung in kleine Handwerksbetriebe oder größere Mass Customizer mehr und mehr obsolet, wobei selbst die Mitarbeiterzahl und die Ausbringungsmenge nicht unbedingt aussagekräftig sind.

Tatsache ist, dass Customizing in der Schlagzeugindustrie zum Schlüsselbegriff geworden ist. Der von vielen Firmen erhoffte Differenzierungsvorteil durch kundenindividuelle Produkte ist dementsprechend vor allem hinsichtlich der Vermarktung fraglich, da die große Mehrheit aller Anbieter kundenindividuelle Produkte im Leistungsprogramm führt, ständig neue, wenn auch kleine, Customizing-Betriebe entstehen und nicht zuletzt auch der Begriff Customizing inflationär und nicht immer im zutreffenden Sinne zu Vermarktungszwecken verwendet wird.

Eine Marke soll mit den sich verändernden Ansprüchen des Nutzers wachsen können, weshalb eine Anpassungsmöglichkeit des Instruments unbedingt erfordert. Um, trotz der weiten Verbreitung dieser Mechanismen, durch Customizing dennoch ihre Marken abgrenzen zu können und nicht gerade durch vermeintliche Individualität zum gesichtslosen Produkt zu werden, platzieren sich Firmen in der Schlagzeugbranche heute durch den Grad der Individualisierung. Dieser ergibt sich aus den jeweiligen Kompetenzen und Möglichkeiten, so dass die Konstituierung einer Markenidentität zunehmend durch die Vermarktung intangibler Leistungshorizonte angestrebt wird.

Während also beispielsweise das kalifornische Unternehmen Orange County Drum & Percussion die außergewöhnlichsten Designwünsche der Kunden zu ermöglichen versucht, bietet der japanische Hersteller Pearl die Umsetzung kundenindividueller Klangcharakteristika durch unterschiedliche Trommelkesselkompositionen an. Andere Firmen wiederum spezialisieren sich durch die Verwendung unkonventioneller Grundmaterialien  – wie es bei RCI Starlite der Fall ist (Acryl), nach stilistischen Orientierungen – etwa bei San Francisco Drum Co. (Vintage Fokus), oder gar durch „special effects“ – von tmd customs (illuminierte Instrumente).

Auch die Art des Kundenservices unterscheidet sich teilweise massiv. Während bei einigen Herstellern Produktkonfiguratoren Verwendung finden, ermöglicht Phattie Drums dem Kunden den persönlichen Kontakt zu den einzelnen Handwerken. So können sogar hochspezielle, oft nur schwer verbalisierbare Wünsche gemeinsam umgesetzt werden. Entsprechend siedeln sich solche Produkte preislich im High End Bereich an und stellen somit eigentlich keine realistische Konkurrenz zu Herstellern von Serienprodukten dar.

Eine innovative Option bietet das traditionsreiche deutsche Unternehmen Sonor, welches ein Mass Customization Konzept geschaffen hat, bei dem der Kunde sowohl die Vorteile der Serienproduktion, als auch gleichzeitig Optionen des Customizings nutzen kann. Vorkonfigurierten Serienprodukte können durch Möglichkeiten des Customizing Konzepts SQ² individuell ergänzt werden und tragen so dem „share of wallet“-Gedanken Rechnung. Dabei sind auch vollständig individuell zusammengestellte Drum-kits innerhalb gegebener Möglichkeiten denkbar, wobei ein positiver Kosteneffekt vor allem durch die Synergie von Serien- und individuellen Produkten entsteht.

A selection of mass customization offerings in the drum industry

dw drums (www.dwdrums.com):  At DW, we're famous for building custom kits. Exotic woods from around the globe, sonically diverse shell configurations, hot-rodded Graphics lacquer finishes, four distinct drum hardware color choices and so much more. It's all about expressing your own personal style behind the kit and on it. (Customizing since 1990)

Orange County Drum & Percussion (www.ocdrum.com):  One of the things that makes OCDP different from other companies is the options and the finishes. […]This does nothing for the sound of the drum, but it gives the drum a more custom look which some people prefer. (1991)

Pearl (www.pearldrums.com): Masterworks is about choices for the discriminating drummer. Choices like North American Maple, Scandinavian Birch and African Mahogany. Three highly prized woods for shell composition, not just the same shell everyone else custom paints. […] With Masterworks, your kit sounds like your kit. (2003).

Phattie Drums (www.phattiedrums.com): Beyond Custom [...] Now you can work with a member of our staff to design your own Sounds Like Art snare. Our wood experts will help pick a wood that meets your sonic requirements while our artists turn your ideas into 3D designs carved into the shell. You also have the option of custom hardware, working with our artists to create a lug that compliments your shell design while maintaining functionality. (2001).

Pork Pie Drums www.porkpiedrums.com: Whether recorded or live, the difference in your sound will be a custom Pork Pie™ Snare. Hearing is believing! Our Snare Drums are available in an almost limitless choice of Custom Lacquers, Stains and Wraps. (1987)

RCI Starlite www.rcidrums.com: All of our RCI acrylic shells are made from a specialty formulated hardened performance polymer made in the USA exclusively for RCI. These are true All American manufactured products made in America by Americans. [...] It’s impossible to list all the infinite patterns and color combinations that we create due to the fact we are a total custom shop. Whether you are a top manufacturer in the industry, a boutique drum manufacturer or an individual looking to create your dream set RCI deals directly with a personalized service.

San Francisco Drum Co. www.sfdrumco.com: At San Francisco Drum Co, we believe in combining the classic design approach from yesteryear with today's modern materials, construction methods, and components. (2004)

SHINE Custom Drums & Percussion www.shinedrums.com: What makes a custom drum company successful in the very crowded "custom drums business" these days? We believe the answer to this question is quite simple...offer a product that is reliable, better built than your competitors and give artists and customers the kind of treatment you would give to your family or close friends. It seems like a simple concept yet it is why Shine Drums is the fastest growing and most sought after custom drum manufacturer in the world today. (2004)

SJC custom drums www.sjcdrums.com: Design your dream. (2000)

SONOR (www.sonor.com): SQ2 is more than a new drum series. It is an entirely new concept both of making drums and selecting drums. With an almost unlimited variety of shell - size - finish combinations SQ2 is the most individual drum we have ever made and the most unique one you have ever dreamed of playing. It will let you speak with your personal musical voice. It is your signature in sound. (1993)

tmdcustoms www.tmdcustomdrums.com: Ceelite is a new technology that allows flat, flexible light to be formed around the shell of any drum and is available through TMD Customs. This will bring a new dimension to what was thought to be a stale market. With every company offering custom designs, TMD Customs brings you the new wave in drum finishing that you will not be able to find anywhere else. Ceelite allows you to illuminate your entire drumkit with the touch of a button or by simply hitting the drum by using the optional trigger mount creating the first ever lit drum show. (2005)

Zapfab: User-generated content meets 3D Printing

A new Ponoko-alike company is coming from Manchester in the UK! Zapfab Ltd is a user manufacturing start up that offers a new way of delivering individualized, customized products. As other companies in this field, they are combining the creativity of user-generated content with the power of 3D Printing (fabbing).

In a press release I got today, the company is described as follows:

"User-generated content is ubiquitous throughout the internet, from weblogs to YouTube videos. Zapfab builds on this trend, by providing a website where users can easily generate unique designs for 3D objects.

3D Printing is rapidly gaining ground as a way of creating real, physical objects from 3D design data. Zapfab provides an easy way to access this technology: Once you have generated a 3D design you can choose to have it 3D printed: Zapfab will 3D print the design and deliver the finished object to you.

The Zapfab website has two main areas: the Design Catalog and the 3D Customizer. The Design Catalog contains all the designs on the site and is a repository like Google's 3D warehouse. The 3D Customizer is where the customizing takes place: Each design can be customized in different ways: color, size, pattern, etc. and the 3D Customizer contains simple controls for each of the options. So, once a user has customized a design, she can save it back into the catalog for other people to see. And then they in turn can customize and build on her design.

“We see three main groups of users for Zapfab.com,” said Julie Wood, Zapfab Director, in the press release “First, we have made the 3D Customizer really easy to use, so that anyone can create a unique, customized design in just a few minutes.

Second, there are a range of users with 3D modelling skills, who will be able to upload their designs to the site; and we aim to make it easy for them to add customizations to those designs.

Third, users with programming or scripting skill will be able to create new, highly-customizable designs. And all the designs, from the simplest to the most complex, are customizable through the same easy-to-use 3D Customizer.”

At the moment, Zapfab’s Design Catalog contains over 100 customized designs, ranging from bowls to boxes and bangles. All of the designs can be 3D printed “as is”, or freely customized. It is a nice, but at this stage not too creative collection of things. But I hope to see much more activity on their side, and given that they are located in Europe, I also will try this service by myself in the next weeks and let you know about my experiences.

Research Project Presents Custom-Fit Motorbike Helmet

A recent survey revealed that many motorcyclists have problems in finding a perfect fitting helmet. Mass production cannot solve this issue. Today, partial personalization is done by offering the consumer the choice between with different paddings. But a new manufacturing philosophy is needed to produce a fully customised helmet, perfectly formed to the geometrical features (=head) of a user.

Research from the Custom-fit Project, funded by 6th framework program of the EU, offers a solution: fully personalised helmets at a cost effective rate. The starting point is the 3D scanning of the rider’s head shape, using a laser scanner developed by Custom fit partner Human Solutions. The scanned surface model represents the reference point from where adaptations are made on a standard design, resulting in a helmet design, perfectly shaped to the rider's head (carried out with a specialised CAD tool from the project partner Delcam).

Finally the customised part of the helmet, the liner, is manufactured using a new Rapid Manufacturing machine (a Power Printing Process tool developed in the project by DeMonfort University) which builds the product layer by layer with a high productivity by sintering polymeric powders specifically selected for the new process.

The main issue with custom helmet is safety. While the custom production offer large advances with regard to comfort due to better fit, the safety prepositions of a laser sintered product are still open. To improve this factor, the customised helmets use the same amount of expanded polistyrene that is used in standard and certified helmets (this material is principally responsible for the function of shock absorption). Moreover, some special customisation of the mechanical characteristics of the customised liner should increase safety level, for example lowering the tendency of the helmet to be pulled off the head during riding.

The project has also dealt with the reorganization of service and delivery, by studying a new way to interact with customers form the moment they start the order process, where the head needs to be 'scanned', to the point in which the customised helmet is delivered. All modification to the supply chain have been studied. Initially the rider/customer will probably face an increase in price and delivery time to have a Custom Fit helmet. Nevertheless they will be rewarded by being the owner of a unique, custom-made helmet, not only more comfortable but safer as well.

Context: Custom-Fit is an industry led project to investigate the possibility of moving towards knowledge based manufacturing and customised production through integration of knowledge in Rapid Manufacturing, Information Technology and Material Science. I am serving as a scientific adviser of the project. Funded under the Sixth Framework Programme, the project involves 30 partners from around Europe. The aim is to create a fully integrated system for the design, production and supply of individualised products. It has targeted product for implementing the new technology, including motorcycle seats, helmets, implants and prosthesis.

Top 10 Mass Customization Companies in 2007 -- Report in Best Practice Business Blog

Happy New Year!

Best Practice Business is a rather large German blog, and Burkhard Schneider, its main author, recently added more and more good reports on new mass customization companies. If you understand German, very worthwhile to read.

Yesterday, as part of the usual top 10 lists popping up at the end of the year, he also created a list of "top 10" mass customization companies in 2007. There are a number of great concepts, others I find less innovative, other are missing, but it is a great review of interesting concepts in the area. The blog, and the posting, are in German, but you easily will get the picture. Here is the top-10 list (go here for further descriptions and the links)

# Mymuesli: Mass Customized Müsli
# Blends For Friends: Mass Customized Teas
# Vuru – Custom nutrition
# My Twinn - custom dolls
# Miss-Information: Custom travel books
# flattenme: Personalized children books
# TasteBook: Mass Customized recepies
# Paragon Lake: mass customized jewelry
# Cosmocards - Personal Greeting Cards
# Zyrra – mass customized bras

MC Configurator Database Went Live - Great New Portal Provides Comprehensive Overview of Mass Customization Offerings

Additional Site Feature: MCPC 2007 video interviews with Joe Pine, Stan Davis, Mitchell Tseng and many other ...

The unpublic beta was one of the best kept secrets in the mass customization world of the last months --- now it is public: The huge database of configurators (co-design toolkits) compiled by Paul Blazek and Wolfgang Frühwirt and their team at Cyledge.com, a Vienna based consultancy in the field of configurators.

What is a configurator? Well, "simply put, a configurator is a software application for designing products exactly matching customers' individual needs", the site says. As they further explain, configurators can be found in various forms and different industries. They are employed in B2B as well as B2C markets and are operated either by trained staff or customers themselves. Whereas B2B configurators are primarily used to support sales and lift production efficiency, B2C configurators are often employed as design tools that allow customers to "co-design" their own products.

What Paul and Wolfgang do not is to document configurator software providers, but real configurators on the web ... more than 500 of them. All arranged in a nice database sorted by more than 85 criteria, including

- Steps to starting (distance to the configurator, number of web pages the user has to go through in order to get to the configurator (distance from the Homepage)

- Process navigation

- Module library (pre-customized products are available for further customization)

- Automatic completion (The configuration process can be continued even if the user ignores a required decision during the configuration process. The system completes the product automatically, meaning that the user doesn’t need to edit every step in order to continue the process)

- Loading Time (under 15 Seconds)

- 3D-perspective exists allowing the user to rotate the product picture 360°. (yes/no)

- Delivery time

- Weaknesses of the site as seen by the evaluator.

Well, for the public version they just reveal about ten criteria, but this already provides plenty of benefit. You get a great overview of what is available in the world of mass customization: Did you know that there are six custom offerings for pets, 15 for children stuff, 37 configurators in the construction and building industries? Their rubric "most exotic configurators" list Sonor GmbH & Co. KG (custom drums), our friends from Elite Vintners (custom wine), Alois Reich (custom dirndl), Brewtopia (custom coasters), Tiny Pocket People (custom pocket dolls), or A.H.Beard Pty Ltd. (custom beds for children).

And there is much more, over 50 pages of listings ().

On top, the site has a nice blog (with some re-postings from my blog), a conference database, and a great library of short videos with key persons in the mass customization world. See my interview with a spectacular multimedia trick :-), or here wiser voices like Joe Pine, Mitchell Tseng, or Stan Davis himself ... the person who has coined the term mass customization:

Most of the videos were taken at the MCPC 2007 Conference. For many more videos go to the configurator-database.com site.

Full disclosure: I am a scientific advisor of this project and the sponsoring company, cyledge.com.

Personalization in Retail: How RFID tags are helping a German retailer to provide customization of the retail experience

Roland Piquepaille wrote in a ZD-Net Blog about RFID tags that help you to choose your clothes at a German retailer close to my home.

This application fits perfectly to the discussion we had at the MCPC 2007 Business Seminar a month ago in Montreal on "A total makeover of retail". Here are some quotes from the posting:

"A German department store, the Galeria Kaufhof in Essen, part of the Metro retailing group, is using RFID technology in a new way. … Men buying clothes in this store will get automatic suggestions. For example, when you go to a dressing room to try a suit, a ’smart mirror’ will tell you what kind of shirt or tie you need to buy with it. Will this technology be deployed elsewhere? Time will tell.

… An RFID reader on a “smart mirror” in the change room determines which clothing has been brought into the room from the RFID tag attached to the apparel, then displays complementary clothing choices or accessories. The system is used in combination with ’smart shelves,’ which can read what merchandise is currently in stock, so that customers can be shown choices in sizes that are available, and in various styles and colors.

… RFID readers are installed in walls, tables, and clothing racks of the men’s department. In addition to providing METRO with data on store floor inventory in real-time, the readers enable a number of consumer-facing applications that METRO hopes will both wow customers and make their buying experience richer and more convenient. The RFID tables are hooked up to an accompanying flat screen, which displays what sizes and styles are immediately available on that table. The RFID mirrors detect which garment the customer is wearing or holding and offer recommendations for complementary items.”

And of course, all this information is extremely valuable to the retail chain. Let’s return to the Baseline article for its conclusion. “Bill Colleran, chief executive of Seattle-based Impinj, says the exciting thing about the Kaufhof deployment is that it demonstrates that RFID can be used in retail for much more than to wring out cost savings in the supply chain. With the use of business intelligence systems like smart mirrors and smart shelves, it can be a new sales driver. ‘People joke that this is the ideal place to start because men need more help” in making choices,’ he says.”

Context information:
- The full blog posting of Roland Piquepaille.
- Report in Baseline Magazine which was the source of Roland's article
- Metro press announcement
- Press release by the technology providers

Udate: Crowdlogoing the New Spreadshirt Tagline: New Design Competition Launched -- and finalized

(Update of the original posting from Sept 2007 -- now with the project's final result at the end of this post!).

Hey, you designers of the world. Treat me nice: I am on the panel of the new Spreadshirt Open Logo competition :-). Coined the Open Logo Project (OLP) 1.6, this is the second time that the company has started a crowdsourcing contest for its new logo. Anyone can submit a draft logo for comment and evaluation by an expert panel, other designers and the Spreadshirt community. Each week during the contest, the top entries will win awards and a place in the overall grand final.

The last contest (hosted 1.6 years ago) received over 1000 submissions from more than 600 designers mainly in Germany and France. This time, the entire world shall participate. The contest will run from the 27th August - 14th October. To take part in the contest - with submissions, comments, voting or just lurking - head to http://olp.spreadshirt.net.

Every branding textbook, however, will tell you not to change your logo every two (or even 1.6) years. But “…this is not a publicity stunt," said Jana Eggers, Spreadshirt’s new CEO. "We found a tagline that better represents what we do, and now is the right time to change our current logo to support it".

The new tagline, resulting from working with an international branding firm: "Your own label" shall reflect Spreadshirt's mission to be "the world's creative apparel platform". After deciding on the new tagline, the natural step for Spreadshirt was to turn to its community again for a logo that better supports the new tagline.

The cool thing: Adam Fletcher, who is coordinating the competition at Spreadshirt, even allowed me to pick my own prize. So: I will award a first price for the most innovative design, one, that really demonstrates uniqueness and out of the box thinking. And this price will be truly innovative and unique as well: You can win an entire mass customized outfit. More on the website!

But beyond the innovative prices, also the OLP idea competition itself has some nice features which make it a great example of open innovation and sets it ahead to other design contests on the web:

They have ten different awards and prizes for different categories which also honor not only WHAT, but HOW you design, awarding good competition citizenship. There are prices for community involvement, memorability, branding excellence, etc …

This also allows Spreadshirt to think of those that offer input but can't design (I would be a perfect candidate for this). Anyone who actively contributes to the OLP community by ratings, commenting, offering feedback, starting discussions etc can win one of every shirt that Spreadshirt’s “La Fraise” prints for the next year (should be around 100 shirts – so if you win, buy a new closet).

"We [want] to recognize out-of-the-box thinking, collaboration, community favorites and more," adds Adam Fletcher. "Even if you're not the winning designer, you can scoop a number of other prizes, or just waste a lot of your time, learn a lot from looking at the work of the other designers."

For real winning designers, they also provide more than cash, but help with the most valuable good for artists, recognition. Along with a MacBook pro and €3,000 cash, the winner will be featured with a photo and an interview in he “Computer Arts” magazine, an interview on “Computerlove” and a permanent “thank-you-page” at Spreadshirt.com

So, now get your creative fluids working … and submit a nice logo so that I have something to judge next week !!

------------

UPDATE: The project is over -- and it was an interesting experience for me to be on the panel of such an open innovation competition. Here some observations:

First: The winner: While Spreadshirt selected two first prices for their new logo (see the designs here) and is now working with the community on improving the designs. My personal short list looked a bit different, see it here.

Second: My winner: As written above, I could award my very special price for the most innovative design. My clear favorite was Labelhead, not just a logo but an entire logo configurator. Here is my long description why this is the most innovative (and in any case customizable) logo! (and this posting also gives you a rare view of my living room :-)

Third: Participants of an open innovation project get engaged and personal: The entire competition drew more than 2800 entires, generated millions of hits and views, a lot of postings and good press for Spreadshirt -- and did not cost really too much compared to the cost of getting a professional new logo (and PR campaign) from a regular agency (cost were about 10 K Euro for prices, Adam Fletcher's salary of running the contest, and some web site programming etc ..). The best insight into the enthusiasm and engagement of the participants can be found in the comments to the posts, just browse through some of the winning designs or see the comment on the selection of the winners (example).

For me, it was was interesting to read what people really thought about my selections (more comments here). I think I really do not look like a designer or pretend to know much about graphic design -- my task was to provide a business and customization perspective for the panel. But participants expected my real feedback on their designs ... learning_ pick panelists that really know what they are writing about.

Fourth: I learned a lot about customized toilets :) See comments in the middle of this stream.

User Innovation in the Catholic Church: Dioceses of Cologne launches idea competition platform

This is the last sign that there is something behind user & open innovation: The Catholic Church has started an online open innovation idea competition (well, one could say that the entire church IS a lead user invention anyway).

KJG, the Catholic youth organization of Cologne, one of Germany’s largest dioceses, just launched a web site where young people are encouraged to submit ideas what they want to change at the Catholic Church.

The website aenderwas.de (German for „Make a change“) broadly asks for ideas and suggestions. You can either submit a short idea or comment, or upload a long suggestion (perhaps for a real innovative interior design of a Church that you would like to see; or the tunes of a song you would like to sing …). Interestingly, they also ask one of the easiest but often neglected questions: If you don’t go to church, why?

People who submit the best and most innovative ideas will be invited to a kind of lead user workshop to build on these ideas and to transfer them into more concrete offerings. But the people behind the initiative also know about the limits of this approach and acknowledge in a disclaimer that not all change requests can be incorporated immediately.

It all started, by the way, when one of the organizers was in an Executive MBA class I taught on open innovation a while ago. She immediately saw the opportunities of improving the offerings directed towards younger people by the Church, and later transferred her learning into this project.

I am very curious to see what comes out of this initiative and what will be the experiences of this project. Will such a broad call for input generate real innovative ideas? I will keep you posted – and if you have an idea what to change with the Catholic Church (from the perspective of you, the user), the opportunity is there: www.aenderwas.de (note: While God speaks all languages, you need German language skills for this).

Bikers Want Customized Motorcycle Seats, Custom Fit Study Finds

Motorcyclists are in favor of customizing their motorcycle seats according to their body geometry. A survey on customization of motorcycle seats carried out as part of the European funded project Custom-Fit, found that 81% of the survey respondents support the idea of a customized seat.

The Custom-Fit project is investigating new techniques for customizing a product based on Rapid Manufacturing (RM). The project is supported with almost 10 millions Euro by the European Community and is one of the largest projects in the area of customization (Disclosure: I am a member of the project’s scientific advisory board).

As explained in the previous posting, RM allows parts to be manufactured directly and automatically using 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model. The new technique will enable consumers to buy products that are built to the exact requirements of the consumers. A motorcycle customized according to body geometry is one of the products which the project is investigating. Other possible applications of the new technique include prosthetic sockets, helmets, mandible implants and knee implants.

The survey was recently carried out by Loughborough University in UK, who is a partner in the project, and received 3200 responses from motorcyclists worldwide. In the survey, majority of the respondents owned a motorcycle and do not share their motorcycle with another person. Although only half of the respondents said that they had experience of discomfort from their motorcycle seats, but majority felt the discomfort during long distance travelling. In addition, more than half of the respondents are willing to pay a premium for the customized seat and many were willing to wait longer.

Professor Richard Hague, Head of the Rapid Manufacturing Research Group in Loughborough University, said: “These initial results show that there is wide support for customised goods – even if initially they are more expensive and take longer to produce.” (Note: Richard Hague chairs the Rapid Manufacturing Track at the MCPC 2007 conference!)

The next phase in the project will be to investigate the technical practicality of designing a motorcycle seat based on the scan data of the consumer’s body profile. Research on how to obtain the body geometry has already started and the project is is now working on defining a “comfort map”, which is a combination of the pressure map and the discomfort zones.

This result is used to identify the area on the seat which needs to be redesigned and the new seats will be testes on motorcycles. At the same time, the management issues involved in providing a customization service for motorcycle seats have also been studied. The project has identified the possible ways to offer the service to the consumers and is studying the supply chain implications of introducing such a service.

Context:

- More results from the Custom Fit project will be presented in several talks on the MCPC 2007 @ MIT !

- Custom-Fit is an industry led project to investigate the possibility of moving towards knowledge based manufacturing and customized production through integration of knowledge in Rapid Manufacturing, Information Technology and Material Science. Funded under the Sixth Framework Program, the project involves 33 partners from around Europe. The aim is to create a fully integrated system for the design, production and supply of individualized products. It has targeted product for implementing the new technology, including motorcycle seats, helmets, implants and prosthesis. Project homepage: http://www.custom-fit.org/

Puma BBQ for Millionaires: Puma cooperates with Italian luxury brand Schedoni to offer special collection of customized shoes

Earlier this week, I was in London for a workshop. As I had some time to spare, I browsed through Harrods which was just opposite my hotel. In te store, I found at least ten different customization offerings, including custom gold clubs and a “mi adidas” sales unit. But in the men’s shoe department (not in the Sports department!), I discovered a new Puma mass customization offering which was already launched in April of this year, but apparently is so exclusive that I did not discover it before.

To upscale its BBQ offerings, Puma cooperated with Italian luggage maker Schedoni, one of the top Italian luxury brands. The company has a special line of luggage for your new Ferrari, or offers bullet-proof briefcases used by the Italian secret service, and, since a few years, also hand crafted shoes (shoe manufacturing was the original core of the company).

To supplement your Ferrari (or Volkswagen) experience, Schedoni is now teaming up with Puma to offer a line of driving shoes that can be customized with regard to color. In London, I now saw this system in operation. Fitting to the craft nature of the product, the configurator is a low-tech high-touch system. In London, I could play around with the shoe building "Puzzle Kit" which allows you to choose from a wide variety of leather colors for both the outer leather, and a contrasting leather color that shoes through the familiar PUMA logo in the side of the shoe.

The Motortrend blog knows that “no more than 500 of each combination will be made, and each numbered and personalized.” But for 350 British pounds a pair (almost 700 USD), I personally found this a bit to expensive for a pair of high-end sneakers.

Like with the Puma BBQ system, the Puma-Schedoni configurator will rotate in 50 Puma stores worldwide and will be introduced in selected high-end department stores. The production process will take about 4-6 weeks, and will be performed in the Modena factory of Schedoni. Shoes will be shipped to the customers’ home afterwards.

While the press and blog reports that I found about this system all claimed this great combination, the actual display at Harrods was a bit disappointing. Indeed, they had this great leather traveling trunks shown in the picture left (all pictures from PUMA via Pumatalk.com) but sample shoes (in the boxes left and right) and leather patches were unorganized and looked used – and this even in the high-end atmosphere of the Harrods footwear department. This is a typical other example of using mass customization as a brand building exercise. Such a system does not really demand much effort in introduction, but has large press appeal and underlines the fashion appeal of Puma.

What the benefit for Schedoni is, I am not sure. They could have made this as a profitable stand-alone business with much higher margins, I believe, and perhaps a better positioning in the market.

Context:

More pictures and reports in Motortrend and Pumatalk
And my previous posts on customized sneakers.

BMW’s Mini Brand Launches Custom Roof Designer Online

Evaluation of the new roof design toolkit and some ideas for improvements and additions

Driving a BMW-Mini often is seen as the ultimate expression of individualism. People paying the extra premium for a small, but fun car often select a Mini to express their individual lifestyle and to set themselves ahead from the crowd. For me, this always seemed to be a bit a contradiction, as I have seen very few really “cool” people driving a Mini, and at least in Germany, Mini drivers seem to follow a general pattern of belonging to a conservative upper middle-class medium aged segment living in larger cities. (I have, however, to admit that driving a Mini really is fun and a very nice experience).

Also, from a mass customization point of view, a Mini has rather limited customization offerings. While the configurator suggests plenty of choice options, they are rather limited, especially with regard to style customization like color combinations between body, roof, and interior. All choices seem to be perfectly balanced to deliver neatly tuned combinations fitting the Mini brand image as seen by its corporate parents.

But now, there is ultimate choice. Customers now can freely design the Mini’s roof with their very own design. The roof is one of the signature design features of the Mini. It is often selected in a different color than the body. And now you not only can select from 15 or so standard colors, but really design your own, as the German weekly Der Spiegel reports in its online edition.

Enter the Mini Roof Designer, a very well done playful online design toolkit that allows you to generate your own roof design. The configurator is full of nice gimmicks providing a great experience, but not really helping you to come up with a better design. As far as I could evaluate this configuration toolkit, this – in the moment – is a pure marketing gimmick. You can design your roof and save it, but that’s it.

According to the regularly well informed Der Spiegel, however, you also can order very soon your individual design in form a custom-made foil with your individual pattern that your Mini dealer will fix on your roof. (and in the Carscoop blog I read that the orders are available only in Italy for the time being, Germany will follow in June, Austria in the third quarter, with further countries being added later).

Given the high prices for extras for the Mini, 400 Euros for this service seem to be not too expensive. I bet there even will be fans ordering their custom roof stickers without even owning a Mini. And I am looking forward to see all the really custom designs printed on Mini cars and how they match the look of their owners. Have a look in the gallery of the Roof Configurator to see what I mean.

Nice idea. Some thoughts I had while playing around with the configurator how to improve this offering :

(1) It will be interesting to see if and how Mini approves all designs and whether there will be limits of what people can print. For the online gallery publicly showing your saved design, a manual approval process takes place. After I saved my Mini, the system told me that it will take ONE WEEK to approve my design before it is online. Hey, we are in an online, real-time, instant gratification world and the automotive industry is talking about the Three-Day-Car http://www.3daycar.com/!!

(2) It is rather difficult to come up with a nice design. The system offers many tools, but as an average user without design skills, it is difficult to come up with something creative. Easy-to-modify starting designs are missing. Also, I would have loved to get some more inspirations, perhaps by famous designers sharing their own Mini roof. And if I would be a professional designer, I would love to be able to upload a design made in Photoshop or any other professional design program using a template provided by BMW.

(3) The custom Mini roof sounds like a perfect idea for a new Threadless clone . Let the best in the world design roofs in form of an open (ongoing) competition, and let the community of Mini fans and owners evaluate the designs and vote on the winners. Then produce these designs in limited editions and sell them within days.

(4) Or a modification of the Spreadshirt idea: Let users design roofs, and sell their individual designs to others. Designs are then individually printed, and designers get a share of the proceeds. Perhaps this also is a great after-sales tuning idea. Think of transferring the BEMZ idea of tuning IKEA sofas onto Mini roofs: Create custom Mini roof covers and sell them independently for 200 Euros. Given that about 1 Mio. New Minis have been sold, this sounds like a nice market opportunity.

So many opportunities for mass customization in the automotive industry. Let’s see what is happening next.

(Update) MyMuesli launched -- Create custom cereal online

(Update of posting from April 30). Whenever I am asked what the next big trend in customization is, one of my answers always is food. And one example that I am always referring to is custom cereal. While the cereal shelf space is pretty impressive in many supermarkets, there still is demand for more choice.

Consider food allergies in line with personal taste preferences, and add the wellness and functional food trend – as a result, you easily find many reasons why we want custom cereal. But to get custom cereal -- or any other custom food item -- we had to go the conventional way of craft customization, i.e. prepare our food from basic ingredients from the scratch.

Or select the artificial option: Nutrition supplements have been available in custom varieties since years. But now, one of my basic foot items can be conveniently mass customized, too: Muesli.

I just placed my order for a custom box of muesli. No raisins, but plenty of mango and apricots. No hazelnuts, but cashews and pine. And some magic Alfalfa (what ever this is, but is seems to be good). By doing so, I stepped into the typical MC consumer trap: Motivated by a cheap basic price and rather small additional premiums for additional items, I ended up with a Muesli that will cost about 4 times more per pound compared to my standard organic muesli mix. But it is custom, comes in a nice box, and has my name on it. So who cares?!

MC veterans will remember General Mills’ pilot in the same area, mycereal.com, but this venture never went online in full scale (a review of the old site is here).

Today, three business school graduates from Germany have launched Mymuesli (of course in beta). Max Wittrock, Hubertus Bessau and Philipp Kraiss offer customers on their rather simple site a simple, but working configurator to create complex custom mixes from more than 75 ingredients. While the site is not the latest in web design, I like the idea – and I am curious to see how the site develops!

Update: After about two weeks, I got my custom muesli mix. It was packed in a special tube box (which, however, did not survive the treatment in the German postal service). The muesli is great, really delicious mix, very good ingredients. But I am not sure yet f it is worth the high premium compared to my regular stuff.

And I am curious to see how the company follows up. In the end, custom food items are a perfect example for building loyal customers:
- Get your first order.
- Provide feedback if you like the customization (in my case, I would add more apricots, as they are so delicious).
- Send a reminder after the average consumption period for a reorder of the modified mix.
- If a customer reacts, this process will result in a subscription cycle of the custom good: I will never run out of muesli, and MyMuesli never will loose me as their customer. This a least is the theory.

After I posted about MyMuesli in the original posting here in this blog on April 30, several other reports on MyMuesli have been published. A good comment comes from Rad Tollett:

I think this web-based system of customizing the ingredients of food will have profound effects on major brands in the next twenty years. If the system is in place to customize cereal there is no reason why I, as a consumer, cannot go to a major soda manufacturer and ask for the same levels of control. The only thing preventing me is the fear inside the walls of major soda manufactuerers. The question they likely have but fear to ask is what would happen to Coke if it were opened? Would people choose the special sauce over making their own? Cane or corn? Heavy or light carbonation? More prune or less? Vanilla, cherry, orange, or what? What role does Coke play when I’m making “my” Coke? Scary, but freeing.

And trend-spotting Springwise knows that MyMuesli has had a great start -- and they have another great idea for using this toolkit:

Nice example of mass-customization, and one that's quickly catching on: Mymuesli started two weeks ago, but has already run out of packaging (which they'd estimated would last at least 8 weeks). ... One to adapt to local breakfast preferences? Could be a fun gimmick for hotels, too: during the booking process, let guests order their own breakfast and have it delivered to their room in a personalized box.

Context:
- In case you are able to understand German, you can read the founders' story in their blog.
- Stefan Jäger, a former Ph.D. student of my Munich group, wrote his thesis on mass customization of food. More information on his German book here.
- Here is an interview with the founders of MyMuesli.

Four New Mass Customization Start-Ups Presented by Business Week

In a recent article, Business Week presented a number of new start-ups selling custom products. The report by Eve Tahmincioglu provides some good insight into the costs and backgrounds behind opening a mass customization business. These are the customization businesses presented in the report:

CHIP-N-DOUGH is a local cookie company in Santa Ana, CA. It allows their customer to place corporate logos on the cookie tins. The response has been great: Last year, 30% of the company's $1 million in revenues came from the custom tins. Mrs. Snyder, the founder and owner, went through five programmers and $50,000 just to develop the software needed for customers to place online orders, and also designed the machine to print the custom tins by herself, including own chemicals and dyes which she customized to create proprietary colors. In total, she spent about $300,000 on the changes. Now customers can order between one and 1 million tins online. To date, the largest order has been for 15,000 tins—about 360,000 cookies. Customers can either upload images to the site and design the tins themselves or e-mail the images and leave the rest to Snyder's staff. Tins can be made in as little as one hour—less than the time it takes to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

ZYRRA was founded by Christi Andersen and Derek Ohly, in Cambridge, MA, to provide women with bras that really fit. The two business partners used $40,000 to modify off-the-shelf costume design software to create a large assortment of prototypes of different bras. On the sales side, Zyrra sells bras through home parties, in which one of the company's three salespeople takes 12 different measurements for each customer. Customers then choose colors and trim. Bras start at $70 and are manufactured in a local factory. The company’s web site is used for marketing and to ask potential customers for their ideas. Re-orders shall be possible online soon.

CHOICESHIRTS is one of the many businesses selling custom shirts. Founded by Matt Cohen in Pennsauken, NJ, it uses a fully automated process that keeps costs low and volume high. Cohen started his company with about $500,000 in personal savings in 2001. He sold stock designs at first, but quickly realized that offering custom designs could set him apart. Cohen upgraded the software on his Web site, working closely with an online development company in which he has an ownership stake. The process took about four months and cost several hundred thousand dollars, most of which went to developing interfaces that connect to back-end administrative and production systems. In 2002, he launched Mother's and Father's Day shirts that customers could personalize with their own or their parents' names.
Today, about 65% of ChoiceShirts' $3 million in revenues came from the custom shirts. And customers of personalized are coming back: About 20% to 30% of ChoiceShirts' business comes from repeat customers.

NAME MAKER is selling high-end gift wrap printed with custom slogans. When Cheryl Dorrell founded the company in 2004, she learned that the existing plotters could produce neither durable nor water-resistant prints. So she designed her own $250,000 machine. They now have five of the machines, and their workings are a closely held secret. Customers place their orders online, but the words are set by hand, part of a nine-step process that takes two weeks. Name Maker's made-to-order gift wrap runs from $24.95 to $32.95 a 12-foot roll. About 15% of Name Maker's $2 million in sales came from customized paper in 2005, and Dorrell expects the product to bring in as much as 65% of sales this year. Not bad for a new niche.

Mass Customization Enablers II: DemandMade & Exclusive Pro Create Partnership to Deliver a Complete Custom Apparel Solution for Online Retailers

Zazzle-Confego is not the only new partnership this spring. Also the second specialized mass customization enabler in the US, DemandMade , announced a new cooperation to provide a seaming less mass customization value chain by integrating product configuration with a domestic factory & fulfillment.

Hermitage, PA, based DemandMade provides technology and managed services for the complete mass customization value chain including consumer brands and retailers who wish to configure and offer personalized or mass customized products and factories who assemble made-to-order consumer products. The company was founded in 2005 by eBusiness veterans Scott Killian and Tim Brule, who pioneered eCommerce outsourcing when they launched FanBuzz in 1996 and the mass customization process CustomFan in 1999. One of the first online applications of mass customization, CustomFan was used to operate successful online merchandising programs for such brands as Coca-Cola, the National Hockey League, Peanuts, ESPN and the 2002 Olympic Games. The pair later sold FanBuzz to the television shopping network ShopNBC in 2002.

Last week, DemandMade has entered into a partnership with Rockford, IL, based Exclusive Pro, a provider of domestic apparel embellishment and fulfillment services specializing in retail programs using mass customization and personalization. Exclusive Pro's capabilities include full-service, single-piece tackle twill processes (twill, felt and leather), embroidery, heat transfer applications and private labeled fulfillment of single piece orders that are produced on-demand.

“We’ve combined a suite of Web-based tools specifically designed for apparel retailers with a domestic factory that is already using our platform to produce and fulfill single-piece orders,” said Scott Killian, DemandMade CEO, in a press announcement. “The result is a comprehensive solution for online retailers who want to launch a customized apparel or soft goods program.”

The combined offer uses an AJAX-based product configuration engine designed specifically for apparel items that online retailers can integrate with their existing online stores to offer personalized or custom apparel products. On the backend, the configurator is integrated with Exclusive Pro’s domestic production and fulfillment facility -- a complete solution that provides retailers with everything they need to launch a custom apparel program.

Terry Taylor, President of Exclusive Pro, says about his motivation to enter this partnership, “We have a long history of producing orders for single piece garments. However, the demand for our services has shifted dramatically in recent years to online retailers where the dynamic nature of these products can best be presented. This partnership with DemandMade effectively ensures continuity between the online experience and the production process.”

To see an example of the new product configurator, visit www.scenicstore.com/example

Pill Boxes 2.0: Vuru personalizes nutrition packaging

Sometimes it's all about the (re)packaging. As Springwise, a new Miami-based company called VURU sells nutritional supplements in personalized daily packs. Vuru is the brainchild of Grant Kornman, who says that his (heavy pill using) father inspired him to open this service, as Grant was fed up with selecting pills from many bottles to assemble the daily intake.

At Vuru, customers choose from over 2,000 name brand supplements and vitamins, select how many weeks worth they want to purchase and then have their personalized packs shipped to them. Each pack contains the daily dose into a slick little pack that fits 2-15 pills.

The idea: To spare customers the hassle of collecting pills from several bulky bottles into daily dosages. Vuru packs can be tossed into a handbag or pocket, and are perfect for travel. Each order comes with an information sheet, which has a picture of each pill, the supplement facts label, directions, warnings and any other information pertinent to that supplement or vitamin.

This is how the process works:

1 Name your pack: customers are asked to enter a name they would like to appear on their pack. This is an old personalization trick, that always works: Give something your own name, and you build commitment and involvement with this (standard) thing.

2 Fill your pack: From a long, long list, users now have to select their individual pills. In case you know exactly what you want, this is easy. In case you don't the site lacks a really important feature here: recommendation and advise. How should I know which nutrition supplement is best for me, what is the difference between the 15 kinds of vitamin C they offer, etc.

However: Besides creating their own unique blends, customers can pick one of Vuru's pre-selected mixes, varying from 'Woman's Yoga Pack' to 'The UrbanDaddy Pack'.

3 Choose the nubmer of packs to pick how many weeks supply you want and if you would like auto refills.

4 Checkout. Leave your credit card and money. Prices totally depend on the pills you choose.

Springwise comments on this idea:

"Several elements make this concept quite appealing. First of all, customers will love the ability to pick and mix their own, ultra-personalized blend from a wide variety of supplements. Secondly, there's the convenience angle: time-saving and life-hacking, Vuru is what our sister-site trendwatching.com would call a daily lubricant. One of those products that make people's lives just a little bit easier. Last but not least, the packaging is simple, shiny and chic. Which all combines to create a luxury 'health hack' that many consumers are willing to pay a premium for. The same concept could no doubt be applied to other industries. How about skin care products? Just be sure to think green and keep packaging to a minimum."

My comment: Nice idea and a good example how you can offer customization with standard products. This is just a nice packaging service, but one that may create customer value for heavy users of these products.

But: Sovital and other companies already go one important step further: They really customize the pill! and just produce a customized batch of nutritions just for you So that there is no need to take several pills (even if they come out of one nice bag) but just one that contains all the stuff your body needs.

The Consumer Decides: Nike Focuses Competitive Strategy on Customization and Creating Personal Consumer Experiences -- Data about the Nike Plus Personalization System

During its recent Investor Days, the Nike top management board announced a strong shift of its strategy from being a sportswear brand to becoming the enabler of customized, personal experiences. “Investor Days” are an extensive briefing for analysts; taking place only about every two years (the last was in June 2005). During its recent briefing at the company’s headquarters in Portland on Feb 6, 2007, the company placed a strong focus on its new global theme “The Consumer Decides” and revealed some interesting facts about its customization ambitions and ways to sustainable consumer experience.

During the meeting, also a number of interesting performance data of the Nike Plus system were provided, the Apple-Nike cooperation that allows runners to customize their running experience in a simple but very clever way. It is a strong contrast to the exploding variety Nike is facing today, offering more than 13,000 product different styles in every single quarter.

First, Nike CEO Mark Parker explained the theme “The Consumer Decides”:

“The Consumer Decides is one of Nike's 11 maxims that really define who we are and how we compete as a company. Today, consumers have never held as much power as they do today. They have more choices and more access to those choices. They connect and collaborate with each other over the world. … Clearly, the power has shifted to consumers. For every Nike employee, there's ten million consumers out there deciding whether or not the products and brands we offer really matter. … The ability we have to connect with consumers is the single most important competitive advantage in business today, and nobody does that better than Nike. There is no substitute for connecting with consumers, but it's really just the beginning.”

Nike’s Brand President, Charlie Denson, focused in his speech on the changing consumer and the particular demand for customization:

“[Consumers] want to be part of a community, whether it's a digital community or a virtual community, or whether it's a physical community. They want to feel like they're a part of something. They want to be engaged. …

And another thing that is very, very important to us as we look to the future is the value that the consumer is placing on customization. It's a very, very important part of the way that they interact with anybody or with brands today. We used to talk about the consumer in what we thought was specific, but in today in retrospect, feels like generalities, the fact that we used to put a 18 and a 22-year old in a same set of psychographic, demographic targets. Today, I can very comfortably say that the 18 and the 22-year olds are working on different -- they're living on different planets or at different places. As Mark said, these consumers have more choices than they've ever had.

What our challenge is to keep it simple, make those choices as simple as we can, and make them personal. We've spent the last, or in our case, 20 or 30 years trying to bundle things, adding value to a purchase or a relationship. And now, it's almost in reverse, because you have to unbundle everything if it's going to become customizable.”

During the event, the Nike Plus system was described as a perfect example of this strategy. Trevor Edwards, VP Global Brand & Category Management, describes the system and gives some numbers on its acceptance:

Nike Plus "combines the physical world with the digital world. We put a sensor in the shoe that speaks to the iPod, and you can hear how far you went, how long you went and how many calories you've burned, pretty simple thoughts. And then, when you dock it, you have a world of information at your fingertips. You get to see all that you've done, all your runs stored in a very simple, intuitive web experience where you can set goals for yourself. You can see how you've progressed. In fact, this week, I think we've put up -- you can actually map your run anywhere you go. In addition, you can join in the Nike Plus community where you can challenge your friends or other community members to run physically, but compete virtually. And since our launch, we have close to 200,000 members.

What do the numbers tell us today? First important fact, 35% of the members that we surveyed are actually new to using Nike footwear. So, we've brought more consumers into our franchise. The second part is, more than half of them are actually using the survey to service four times a week. And this is probably the most important statistic, 93% said they would recommend it to a friend, 93%. This is an incredibly sticky proposition, a great way to build loyalty for our brand and obviously build the business.”

Charlie Denson describes the growth plans Nike has with the system:

“That is a dedicated consumer experience. It is changing the game, and it's creating that competitive advantage for us. We would like to see 15% of all runners using Nike Plus, 15%. Now, that's not a very big number, except for there's 100 million people who call themselves runners worldwide. ….”

So in summary, this sounds like a big success and stresses that this really has been a clever idea to provide customization in this industry in a rather simple way, but in one that matters for consumers. And with the target of 15 million users, this would be one of the largest mass customization programs ever.

In another section of the event, Don Blair, Nike’s CFO, provided some interesting figures on the scope of variety that Nike is facing today. I often mention in my presentations the explosion of SKUs and variants that global brands today think to have to offer to create appealing products in heterogeneous markets. Nike seems to have recognized that just increasing the number of variants is not the ultimate way to appeal to consumers:

“SKU productivity. One of the great strengths of our company is our ability to create compelling innovative products that excite consumers. But there can be too much of a good thing. Each quarter we sell about 13,000 different styles of footwear and apparel and because of our high rate of seasonal turnover, we sell tens of thousands of different styles every year. And there are many additional styles that make it part way through the process, but don't end up in the final line that goes to market.

Each one of these tens of thousands of styles drives costs; costs for design, development, sampling, transportation, storage and sales. For footwear 95% of our revenue comes from about 35% of our styles and for apparel the figure is about 40%. …”

Costs of samples to provide this variety were given with more than $100 million. Given these numbers, an adaptable product like Nike Plus or a truly mass customized product, produced on-demand, sounds very appealing and much more efficient.

For the full transcript of the investors meeting, go to nike.com.