Mass Customization & Open Innovation News

Public Proceedings of the last MCPC Conference Published -- Access all Conference Presentations, Papers, Videos

Did you miss the MCPC 2011 conference? It was a terrific event, and we really got great feedback and comments on the conference.  Check here for some conference pictures!

Richard Henderson at UC Berkeley has been very helpful in creating the best conference documentation we ever had! On a special conference website, the full conference program  is  now available with links to the slides of the presentations, full papers (when available), and many full videos of the plenary and keynote presentations (for Day 1 and 2).

To access this rich source of information (I estimate that this are 2500+ slides, 1000+ pages of papers, and 15+ hours of video), either use the access code you got as a conference participant, or purchase* the full text proceedings:

Bridging Mass Customization & Open Innovation. Proceedings of the MCPC 2011 Conference -- including an access code to all presentations, papers, and videos. Edited by Henry Chesbrough and Frank Piller. Published by Lulu, Inc. (Raleigh, NC), 2012.

=>  Paperback version: ISBN: 978-1-4716-3023-1 (ca. 5 day delivery time)

=>  eBook version: ISBN: 978-1-4716-3086-6 (instant download)

For detailed information about presentations and speakers please also refer to the conference proceedings flyer!

---

*Note: Why do we sell these proceedings and do not provide open access? First, this would have been unfair to all people participating at the conference and paying the full fee there. Second, organizing such a conference is a big effort and investment, and we still need the proceeds from this publication to cover our cost. Third, many authors and presenters do not want to have their papers and presentations openly on the web, but agreed to a controlled publication only.

The $1 Million Zazzle Innovation Challenge: What is your great idea for the next in mass customization?

Here is your perfect thing to do over the Christmas holidays:

Zazzle, a leading platform for quality custom products, is hosting their first "One Million-Dollar Innovation Challenge" to launch the development of the next, most innovative customization product or company.

This can be an idea for a new consumer product, but also one for an innovative service, health, business to business or whatever offering ... Feel free to bring mass customization to a new level!

The contest had been announced during the MCPC 2011 conference dinner. It is hosted in association with MIT's Smart Customization Group and UC Berkeley's Center for Corporate Innovation,

The Million-Dollar Innovation Challenge and prize is open to any person or company with an idea for a customizable product. Applicants must create a one-minute video, describing their product and explaining why their innovative concept is special and will contribute to the growing movement of mass customization. Applicants will be judged on innovation and economic viability.

The winner will gain access to Zazzle's world-class engineering team, which will support the winning project with software development, exclusive proprietary design tools and 3-D product visualization technologies. Additionally, Zazzle will fund the project with resources to develop a global product-marketing plan and launch the product to a worldwide audience of tens of millions of potential consumers. The winner will also receive mentorship from a veteran panel of potential investors and industry leaders, in addition to introductions to Zazzle's many brands and partners.

Zazzle will announce five semi-finalists on February 24, 2012. Academic experts, industry executives and active investors will help refine the concepts and plans for final evaluation and judge the presentations.

For more information, including objectives, application, rules and prize details, visit www.Zazzle.com/challenge.

Your Opinion on the Future of Mass Customization: Participate in two short surveys

We would like to tap into the joint intelligence of the MCPC community and ask your to participate in two short conference surveys -- results will be posted here:

Dominik Walcher and Frank Piller want to learn about your opinion on the market development for mass customization. How is the market of mass customization (MC) and personalization growing? What will be the developments in the next years? Please help us to get a better picture of the MC future! Participate here:http://www.tiny.cc/mc-future 

 

Ryan Chin and Daniel Smithwick of the MIT Media Lab, are studying product life-cycle energy use of customized dress shirts to understand how to develop more sustainable products.  Please complete their 6-8 minute survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MCPC2011) on your current dress shirt wardrobe and you'll be entered into a lottery for a FREE custom men's dress shirt worth $100 retail value.  Pretty fancy stuff.  Survey and prizes are open to both men and women!

Start the #MCPC2011 With An Innovative Pre-Event and Networking Reception at #TechShop

Great news: TechShop is hosting a pre-MCPC 2011 networking reception and mixer -- and offers unique opportunity to tour their San Francisco space.TechShop changed the world through open access to the tools of invention... With the advance of inexpensive access to powerful and easy to use tools,
the invention of physical products has never been easier, cheaper, or speedier... particularly if you have a $100 a month membership to TechShop.

During the MCPC Conference, TechShop CEO Mark Hatch will share more about this unique approach to open innovation. But on November 15, you can experience this life:

TechShop is hosting a pre-conference in the San Francisco facility, 926 Howard Street, just 3 blocks from the Powell Street BART station (http://techshop.ws/tssf.html), on Tue, Nov 15, 7pm.

Conference participants staying in the Conference hotel (Marriot  SFO) will be picked up at the hotel at 6:15pm by a shuttle arranged by Techshop.

At TechShop, the program includes some light refreshments & beer, wine as well as non-alcoholic beverages at the Techshop! At 7:30pm and 8:30pm a short tour will be offered in the facilities. The
bus will bring you back to the hotel at 9:15pm.

This event is open to all MCPC participants. To register for the pre-event at tech-shop, please sign up here
Note: MCPC participants only., conference regsitrations required for check-in at TechShop!

#MCPC2011 Business Seminar: The Future of Mass Customization: The New Open Manufacturing System at #Materialise, #Ponoko and #ILT

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

Additive Manufacturing and the opportunity for every consumer to turn any idea into a tangible product will change not just mass customization, but our dominant perspective of design and manufacturing. Learn the key facts from visionaries and business leaders in this field.

Wim Michiels, Executive Vice President, Materialise
The Industrial Revolution 2.0: Personalization through Additive Manufacturing

Every year, consumers’ interest in customization increases and market demand for personalization is creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs as well as entrepreneurs who have an existing offering that they now wish to tailor. With the technological advancements in Additive Manufacturing (AM), commonly known as 3D Printing, individuals have the ability to add a personal touch to the things they use and love most from cell phone cases, to shoes, to accessories for their cars and more.

David ten Have, CEO, Ponoko
Building the World's Easiest Making System

The future of products - using software to connect consumers, designers and making devices. Ponoko Inc is the creator of Personal Factory — the world’s most advanced platform for the mass creation of custom goods. Creative consumers can turn their design ideas into custom goods on demand using Ponoko's global network of making devices. This local production reduces the environmental impact of manufacturing. So far, more than 100,000 customer designed products have been made in 15 locations throughout the USA, Europe and Australasia - everything from 3D printed jewelry to laser-cut clocks to CNC routed furniture. Just as the Internet revolutionized the exchange of digital photos, music and movies, Ponoko pioneered the exchange of digital designs, reinventing the way consumer goods are designed, made and distributed. In a future when there is a making device in every home, school and business, Personal Factory is the software that makes it easy for everyone to create custom goods.

 Reinhard Poprawe, Director of Fraunhofer ILT, RWTH Aachen University
Laser Additive Manufacturing - The Key to the Next Generation of Economic Custom Production

 

 

 

 

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Business Seminar: How to Implement an MC Business at #Fluid, #JELD-WEN and #cyLEDGE

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

Three rapid panel presentations will provide a lot of inspiration and food for thought for small group discussions with your peers.

Andrew Guldman, VP of Engineering, Fluid
Rob Jellesed, Director of Internet Sales, JELD-WEN Windows
Implementing Mass Customization in an Established Company

Fluid Inc. and JELD-WEN Doors & Windows have collaborated to create a compelling and richly interactive window and door customization experience online utilizing the latest in mass customization technology. During this presentation, you’ll hear how JELD-WEN leverages technologies to inform consumer purchase decisions and provide pass through lead generation to the sales funnel. With the use of immersive customization capabilities, potential customers can now interact with photo-realistic products, zoom, multiple views, and color changes. Further, you will learn how mass customization has gone social, with JELD-WEN’s unique implementation of social shopping tools that allow consumers to customize complex products with friends online and share their designs with others. And, last you’ll understand how mass customization has proven to augment JELD-WEN’s in-store door and window displays and offered the company a non-traditional return on investment.

Paul Blazek, CEO, cyLEDGE
Crucial Design Elements for Successful MC Configuration and Interaction

Successful mass customization of products and services requires interaction interfaces and tools that are shaped according to the customers' heterogeneous needs. The interface design of these configuration systems becomes a decisive criterion for customer satisfaction. Besides offering a good approach to the specific customization possibilities it should help to reduce customer doubts encountered during the design process, support emotional mechanisms and persuade to make a purchase. But how are relevant customer requirements identified? What are crucial design elements that trigger an efficient interaction between the customer and the manufacturer. Paul will answer these questions in form of some guidelines resulting from his analysis of customer structures and configurator approaches in various industries.

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Business Seminar: Setting Up a Mass Customization System at #Skyou, #Bene AG and #Selve

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

This session will focus on the different business models that are behind the mass customization trend.

Brennan Mulligan, Founder & CEO, Skyou
What I Learned from Setting Up Five Successful MC Companies

While mass customization can be seen as an established business model we still see often little scale in its execution. At the same time, many new ventures and established businesses alike face the challenge to establish a supply chain fitted for mass customization – and everyone seems to go through the same learning cycle again. In his talk, Brennan Mulligan will propose a solution, reflecting on his experiences in leading many successful mass customization businesses since 1993.

Karl Berger, Vice President Engineering, Bene AG
Developing Solution Spaces for Mass Customization

Solution Space Development is one of the core activities of a successful mass customizer, clearly defining what it is going to offer and what it is not. The presentation will explain how Bene, a leading European office furniture provider, has developed a special approach to understand and serve the idiosyncratic needs of its customers, to develop the solution space. Karl Berger will show how different constraints work with each other, and how a of organizational layers helps to execute different solution spaces in the organization.

Claudia Kisserling, CEO, Selve
Illissa Howard, Founder, Milk and Honey Shoes
Establishing a Mass Customization Factory in China

This joint presentation is delivered by two experienced entrepreneurs in mass customization footwear, representing selve, the Germany-based category leader in the field, and Milk&Honey, a recent Hong Kong based startup. Claudia and Ilissa will first share insights into the market for customization in this field, discussing the Women’s fashion footwear market size and growth areas, global reach via online configurator, and the challenges and opportunities associated with that. Then, Claudia will share here experiences in setting up an own manufacturing plant in china, after seven years of manufacturing of high quality custom women's shoes in Italy. She will discuss the pros and cons, the do's and don'ts and her experiences of setting up and running a custom shoe factory in China.

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Business Seminar: Building & Growing a Mass Customization Business at #Rickshaw Bagworks and #You Bar

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

In this panel, three experienced entrepreneurs in mass customization will share their best practices on what did work and what not.

Mark Dwight, Founder & CEO, Rickshaw Bagworks
Design for Mass Customization: Real World Approaches for Design and Manufacturing

Mass customization comes in many shapes and sizes. Mark Dwight employs mass customization techniques in his small messenger bag manufacturing company, Rickshaw Bagworks, based in San Francisco. Dwight founded Rickshaw specifically to pursue a strict build-to-order operational model, as opposed to the traditional build-to-stock practice common in the fashion industry. At Rickshaw, mass customization is the foundation of the product design and development process. All product platforms are based upon four key design principles: (1) Decouple function and fashion; (2) Isolate complex core functional elements in a common, mass-producible "chassis"; (3) Save product "personality" for the final assembly step; (4) Add optional functional upgrades and fashion elements from a collection of "bolt-on" accessories. Based upon this design methodology, Rickshaw produces a family of full-featured, customizable computer carrying briefcases and backpacks at very competitive prices in its San Francisco headquarters. The benefits of this strategy include: zero finished goods inventory, zero inventory risk, minimum SKU count, vastly reduced forecasting complexity, ability to outsource most of the labor intensive work while insourcing all of the customization, price/performance flexibility, and fast turnaround of highly custom orders.

Anthony Flynn, Founder & CEO, You Bar
You Bars: Profiting from the Mega-Trend of Food Customization

Detailing You Bar's journey from my mother's kitchen to an 8,200 square foot commercial warehouse, this presentation focuses on how the customer and company have become less polarized. Customization obliges the customer to become co-creator and innovator, necessitating a dialogue between customer and company which allows each to better satisfy the evolving needs of the other.

Speaker T.B.A., Please Check Conference Website for Details
Investing in the Customization Trend

Mass customization start-ups have become subject to some major interest of Venture Capital firms. In this presentation, a member of the VC communities share some insights on the market for mass customization from this perspective and why mass customization and co-creation are important drivers of successful future business models.

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Keynote Session: Setting an Agenda for Research & Innovation

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

Discuss with your fellow participants your insights from the MCPC 2011 and close the conference with three forward-looking keynotes and a review by the conference chairs that will set the agenda until the next MCPC.

Vishal Gupta, Director Developer Network, Elsevier
Wither Scientific Publishing? Collaborative Innovation, Open Platforms and Personalized Workflow Solutions Has an Answer

With an exponential growth of scientific information and wider distribution of services and data sources; integrated and intelligent search and discovery become crucial to the success of researchers. This is not possible without partnering on a platform that provides the ability to integrate workflow solutions in a seamless way, allowing a more meaningful use of the content. At Elsevier we are trying to bring a paradigm shift in partnering with researcher and developer communities on open platforms to jointly develop innovative workflow tools that are embedded deeply in user’s workflow, personalized to suit the individual needs, and geared towards driving research outcomes.

Kent Larson, MIT Media Lab
Urbanization from a Perspective of Mass Customization and Open Innovation

This talk will provide a thought-provoking outlook by looking on urbanization from a mass customization perspective. It will propose a systems approach to creating new cities at four scales:

1. New Urban Strategies - parametric tools to create urban blocks with the optimal mix of housing, commercial, retail, and services and their related infrastructure.
2. Mobility-on-Demand - modular approach to assembling an ecosystem of mobility modes and new vehicles (like the CityCar)
3. Personalized Places of Living and Work - mass-customization strategies for high-performance urban housing
4. Proactive Technology - sensors, algorithms, and interfaces to proactively encourage energy conservation, healthy behaviors, and mobility choices.

Mitchell Tseng, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Embodying Innovation for Customer Value - Building Bridges Between Mass Customization and Open Innovation

In our knowledge economy, value comes from generating creative ideas and then embodying them in products for transactions. Mass Customization starts from finding out the customer value and then try to create the best combination of components that shape the physical products for customers to buy. On the hand, Open innovation invites creative idea from everyone, from partners, suppliers, customers and others to contribute for a defined purpose that is valuable. Either approach involves a critical step of transforming abstract idea to tangible products, connecting concept to physical world in order to achieve customer value. Although there are products that can be valuable in abstract forms or software, majority of products still relies physical embodiment. This presentation will like to address the interface between electronically moveable and immoveable. Some of the techniques that can be adapted to amplify the synergy between these two essential components will also be reviewed and discussed.

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Keynote Session: Finding the Next Opportunities in Mass Customization

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

Learn from B. Joseph Pine's latest thoughts on the Virtual Multiverse and how it creates the next generation of experiences and customization, followed by a talk by an entrepreneur who puts Joe's thoughts into real life.

B. Joseph Pine II, Strategic Horizons
The Multiverse: Finding the Next Opportunities in Mass Customization

The physical world, bounded as it is by matter, space, and time, offers limited opportunities for value creation. With digital technology, however, the opportunities are limitless, for people can create anything they want with immaterial bits, in virtual places, without the constraints of linear time. As consumers increasingly experience the world through their digital gadgets, companies still only scratch the surface of technology-infused experiences. Joseph Pine will show you how to create new value for your customers with personalized offerings that fuse the real and the virtual. Digital technology offers limitless opportunities — you really can create anything you want — but real-world experiences have a richness that virtual ones do not. So how can you use the best of both? How do you make sense of such infinite possibility? What kinds of experiences can you create? Which ones should you offer?

André Wolper, Founder & CEO, embodee
Visualization as an Enabler of Mass Customization: An Apparel Story

Apparel shoppers, especially those customizing a garment, expect to vividly and accurately “see” and even experience what a garment looks like on them. Accurate, lifelike, 360degree visualizations can provide the means, delivering inspiration and confidence for an online purchase. embodee, a start-up, adapting technologies from movie visual effects, has built the first scalable, easy-to-use platform that delivers such visualization capabilities. Two leading global brands have launched interactive systems built on the embodee platform. Hurley customers have been able to see themselves in a range of denim styles and sizes optimized for them since 2010. And now, the world's leading sports apparel and equipment brand enables athletes and coaches to see their team uniforms evolve in compellingly realistic 3D as they tweak style elements, text, fonts, stitch patterns and colors. Customer feedback, sales volumes and a steep drop in return rates are proof points that compelling visualization can propel customization and online apparel commerce forward.

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Keynote Session: What is the State of the Art of Research & Practice in Mass Customization & Open Innovation?

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

Two talks providing a review of these fields to create a common understanding of the latest research and insights for practice. 

Joel West, Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences
Open Innovation - State of the Art of Research and Practice

 

 

 

 

 

Frank T. Piller, RWTH Aachen & MIT Smart Customization Group
Fabrizio Salvador, IE Business School
A Matter of Balance - Building the Successful Mass Customization Enterprise

What makes a successful mass customization enterprise? Previous research has identified three core capabilities that allow companies to profit from mass customization: robust process design, choice navigation and solution space definition. So far, however, we did not have large-sample evidence of the impact of these capabilities on market, operational and financial performance of a company. This presentation will report the latest results of an international study of 130 mass customization consumer companies operating both in Europe and in the U.S. as part of the ongoing MC500 research initiative. We find that these capabilities indeed are important for the performance of the sampled companies. To our surprise, however, focusing on one capability alone does not necessarily lead to superior market, operational and financial performance. Instead, performance differentials are explained in terms of the simultaneous presence of the three capabilities. This means that managers building a mass customization venture have to get a balanced view of investing in the three capabilities. Using empirical data and case studies, our presentation will identify implications of our study for entrepreneurs, managers in established companies, investors and VCs, and for future research.

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Business Seminar: Profiting from open Innovation and Co-Creation at #Nine Sigma

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

A final opportunity to discuss with your peers how to put the ideas from this day into practice, kicked-off by a presentation of a key enabler of open innovation.

Andy Zynga, CEO, Nine Sigma
Making Open Innovation Work 

In his presentation, Andy Zynga will share his experiences from more than 2000 projects in open innovation at Nine Sigma. He will comment on the obstacles, tools & opportunities of open innovation, presenting recent results from a comprehensive survey on open innovation practices in global firms. He will then discuss some of the measures executives can take to tackle the challenges of profiting from open innovation. His presentation will close with a few observations to stimulate the discussion at the following round table presentation with your peers.

Followed by a round table discussion.

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Business Seminar: The Tools for Open Innovation at #TechShop, #Idea Couture and #Ford

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

Implementing open innovation is not always easy. This session will provide a focused few on approaches and tools to utilize the benefits of open innovation.

Mark Hatch, CEO, TechShop
BOOM! An innovation Explosion: How to Change the World Through Open Access to the Tools of Invention 

The presentation will share how TechShop changed the world through open access to the tools of invention… and provide a guide on practical ways to leverage this platform for your organization. Open source, the cloud, ubiquitous connectivity, search and find efficiencies, and powerful cheap processing have been driving the rapid acceleration of innovation in any field touched by computers and communication media. Now, with the advance of inexpensive access to extremely cheap, powerful and easy to use tools, the invention of physical products has never been easier, cheaper, or speedier… particularly if you have a $100 a month membership to TechShop. Mark presents five technologies prototyped and built at TechShop that have already started to change our world. He reviews the drivers of this new capability and then explores how you can leverage this new service.

Leah Hunter, Global Head of Insights and Innovation, Idea Couture
Making Co-Creation Strategic

The concepts of open innovation, mass customization and co-creation are often used interchangeably and raise new questions and challenges that highlight the need to understand the variables in their design of mechanisms, business processes and the economic implications for organizations. Leah Hunter will introduce the consumer co-creation value chain, a model that is used to analyze and understand the mechanics of co-creation. She will further illustrate its value by sharing Idea Couture's experiences in designing co-creation strategies. What are the differences between crowd wisdom versus collective intelligence; crowdsourcing ecosystems and market co-creation; motivations and creative incentive design; task characteristics and task design? Leah's presentation will align the strategic intent of the business to a co-creation strategy.

TJ Giuli, Technical Expert Ford Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford Motor Company
Leveraging Open Innovation to Create a Customized Driving Experience

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn,Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With
about 176,000 employees and about 80 plants worldwide, the company's automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury. Recently, Ford opens its research doors to external contributors, tapping into minds at universities and other organizations outside the automotive industry for the next best idea for, e.g., in-vehicle connectivity and infotronics. One of Dr. Giuli's latest open innovation projects is American Journey 2.0, which paired up Ford and University of Michigan students who were challenged to build a new class of social networking apps for the vehicle during a 12-week course. The winning app made its way into a Ford Fiesta for the ultimate test drive to California for the 2010 Maker Faire, the largest do-it-yourself event of its kind. In his presentaton, Dr. Giuli will share this and other experiences in open innovation at Ford.

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Business Seminar: Using Social Media for Customer Co-Creation at #Quirky and #IndieGoGo

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

Social media is becoming a core platform for new product & new service development. Learn from the pioneers in this field and discuss how these approaches could work in your company.

John Jacobsen, Head of Engineering, Quirky
 Social Product Development - Launching a Great New Product Every Few Days

Quirky is a social product development company that brings two brand new consumer products to market each week through its online collaborative platform. Quirky’s community of almost 90,000 members weigh in on every aspect of product development from research to industrial design to branding; quirky shares its revenue with the influencers who help bring each product to life. Since its launch in 2009, Quirky has collaboratively developed more than 120 new products. Top influencers are making tens of thousands of dollars. National retail partnerships include Bed, Bath & Beyond and HSN, with its own show on the HSN Channel each month. Quirky will also have its own show premiering on The Sundance Channel on August 30th. The show, called Quirky, is about the powerful process of making invention accessible. Each one-hour episode will demonstrate how Quirky has successfully re-engineered and democratized the business of innovation.

Erica Labovitz, Director of Marketing, IndieGoGo
Experiences with Crowdfunding in the Movie Industry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Business Seminar: Winning with Open Innovation at #Procter&Gamble, #Eyeka and #Clorox

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

The business seminar today will focus on open innovation. We will start the day by two inspirational keynotes on companies that really "got it" in open innovation and co-creation.

Ashish Chatterjee, Director Connect+Develop, Procter & Gamble
Celebrating a Decade of Open Innovation at P&G - Key Lessons

With every celebration comes reflection. What’s worked, what hasn’t? What can be better moving forward? Such is the case for Procter & Gamble, now marking 10 years of Connect+Develop℠, the Company’s branded approach to open innovation. In the true spirit of collaboration, P&G shares both the good and the bad they’ve experienced along the way. From the first deal, to some of the biggest, to some that simply never were, or never should have been, P&G also will discuss new open innovation frontiers and challenges on the road ahead.

Suzan Briganti, US Rep., Eyeka S.A. & CEO, Totem Brand Strategy
Edward Rinker, Research Fellow, Clorox
Co-Creation Among the Fortune 500

In many ways, co-creation has been more of a European phenomenon. The (according to Forrester Research) top three co-creation platforms (Eyeka, Jovoto and Hyve) are based in Europe and until fairly recently, many US companies have hesitated to adopt the methodology. In this presentation, Eyeka’s US Representative and their first Bay Area client, Clorox, will discuss their views on the state of co-creation among the US Fortune 500. They will reveal why companies are turning to co-creation, the internal resistance they sometimes face, and how they overcome it to use this unconventional new methodology. Their remarks will touch on some ways in which co-creation differs from traditional market research and customer insights.

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights - Mass Customization, Open Innovation and Leadership

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

The relationship of mass customization and sustainability has discussed since quite a while, but still there is very little knowledge about this field. A dedicated track at the MCPC2011 will provide a closer look on this topic.

Sessions 3.5 (Nov 18): Mass Customization, Open Innovation and Leadership

Introduction: Mass Customization, Open Innovation and Leadership: Visualizing the Intangibiles

The introductory presentation to this session will be held by Ralf Reichwald (Munich University) and Kathrin Moeslein (Erlangen-Nuernberg University).

Visualizing the Invisible in MC & OI of Services, Systems and Solutions

Presented by Kathrin Moeslein (Erlangen-Nuernberg University) and Ralf Reichwald (Munich University).

The Open School Concept -- How to Integrate Students More Effectively into the University's Business Life?

Presented by Nizar Abdelkafi (Fraunhofer MOEZ) and Michael Bartl (HYVE).

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 Opening Presentations: Advanced Mass Customization Thinking at #Deloitte and #Gemvara

On November 16th, the MCPC 2011 conference kicks off at the Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco. In this series of postings, we introduce our speakers at the business seminars of the conference.

The MCPC 2011 Business Seminar kicks-off with an introduction by the conference chairs and two corporate leaders that have pushed mass customization to a new level.

Frank T. Piller (RWTH Aachen) & Henry Chesbrough (UC Berkeley)
Bridging Mass Customization & Open Innovation: A Framework

The MCPC 2011 event is an experiment: Can we advance our knowledge of innovation effectively by linking mass customization and personalization with open innovation? While developed separately and build on different theoretical and conceptual backgrounds, we believe that mass customization and open innovation are closely linked and can benefit from a broader exchange between both schools of thought. In this brief opening comment, the two conference co-chairs will provide an overview and introduction into the themes of the conference.

Cathy Benko, Vice Chairman, Deloitte U.S. Firms
Mass Career Customization: From Corporate Ladder to Corporate Lattice

Centered on the insight that today's career is no longer a straight climb up the corporate ladder, but rather a combination journey of climbs, lateral moves, and planned descents, Mass Career Customization (MCC) provides a new model for how careers are built and talent is developed. Borrowing from consumer products trend away from one-size-fits-all to mass product customization, this new approach builds employee loyalty and provides for dynamic alignment between individual and corporate needs. The MCC framework has four dimensions: (1) Pace; (2) Workload; (3) Location/Schedule; and (4) Role. Employees and their managers collaborate to find the right fit across those dimensions at any point in time and over time, as long as the choices work for both the individual and the business.

Matt Lauzon, Founder & CEO, Gemvara
Establishing Mass Customization in a High-End Luxury Market

Realizing a niche in the jewelry industry at the intersection of e-commerce and mass customization, Matt Lauzon, co-founder of online custom jewelry site Gemvara.com, and one of the youngest execs under age 30 to raise multi-millions in funding (over $25M), will discuss his “me-Commerce” vision for the future of online shopping and share insight as to why over 40% of his customers have never bought a piece of jewelry online before buying on Gemvara.com. Taking notes from how Dell transformed PC customization, Zappos revolutionized online customer service and Netflix used targeted data to meet customer needs, Matt will explain the key findings when it comes to launching an online shopping experience, discuss how virtual inventory could benefit all e-tailers and share his thoughts on achieving success within the “emotional web.”

Please find the complete program at the official MCPC 2011 website.

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights: MC Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

Successful Mass Customization not only depends on the design and proper employment of the consumer backend (configurator). Of equal importance is the organizational structure "behind the scenes" that allows a company to actually keep the promiss of individual production while still remaining profitable. In this session we will hear expert advices about the key aspects of successful MC Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management.

 

Sessions 7.4 (Nov 19): MC Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management

Modeling & Simulation of MP-MC Apparel Manufacturing

Apparel companies that initiate Mass-Customization (MC) must identify a suitable manufacturing (assembly) strategy, which is vital for their success. Most companies that produce apparel using Mass Production (MP) systems, are interested in investigating if the existing systems can be used to implement a MC strategy.

In this part Muditha Senanayake (Cal Poly Pomona) and Trevor Little (North Carolina State University) will explore the opportunity to mix MP and MC using computer modeling and simulation. Based on varying sizes of bundles and varying frequencies of products tested on simulated production lines they will present their observations of the production system performance. As a result they will present possible implementations of mix manufacturing strategy and its limitations.

Using a Simulation-Based Framework to Design Supply Chain Offering Mass Customization in the UAE

Mass Customization has emerged as a successful business model that can address the contemporary challenges of global markets. Although companies have adopted various levels of MC, a major challenge for firms is to efficiently design their supply chain in function of their MC offers, which also needs to support the involvement of customers in the innovation process. Marc Poulin will present a work in progress of a simulation framework that enables UAE firms to design supply chains that offer MC products and services. Using the leading edge simulation software SIMIO he will model and simulate supply chain models in the UAE.

Methodology for Implementing the Right Supply Chain for Mass Customization

In this presentation Luigi Battezzati (University of Milan) will focus on the definition of preliminary implementation guidelines in order to define the proper supply chain for different products (emotional, functional), manufactured by different companies (mass or handcraft producer), in compliance with different winning criteria impacting on critical areas for Mass Customization

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 Program Highlight: Design Thinking for Open Innovation an Mass Customization (Showcase Symposium)

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

In this showcase session is  the participants will be provided with the latest results of scientific research on how mass customization and open innovation is evaluated by professional designers as well as on how aesthetic preferences are varying within different cultures. On top of that well known design agencies such as IDEO and designaffairs will present their approaches of how to integrate customers into their design processes.

Session 6.6 (Nov 19): Design Thinking for OI and MC (Showcase Symposium)

In this special showcase session will consist of five individual presentations by Dominik Walcher and fellow experts. Following that the presenting Open Innovation and Mass Customization specialists will engage in a panel discussion on MC, OI and Design.

Schowcase Speakers:

Dominik Walcher, (Salzburg University of Applied Sciences):
What designers think about Mass Customization and Open Innovation - A recent survey

Bernhard Rothbucher, (Salzburg University of Applied Sciences):
Cultural Customization - A case study research on natural acceptance

Minu Kumar, (San Francisco State University):
Think global, act local - A cross cultural study on aesthetic preferences

Christian Jurke, Director Design Strategy at designaffairs, Munich:
SimuPro – a method to create customer oriented solutions for global markets 

Blaise Bertrand, Associate Partner at IDEO:
Design Thinking - IDEO's method to integrate customers in the design process

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights: Strategic Capabilities for Mass Customization (Showcase Session)

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

Proven by many success stories from all kinds of businesses, Mass Customization is one of the most promising concepts of our time. History shows, though, that a great theory is worth little without practical knowledge. Mass Customization is no different and hence it is of great importance to correctly understand why and, most important, how value can be created by the employment of MC. In this session we will hear about failure and success, core capabilities and different approaches to make the most out of a concept that is easy to comprehend, yet hard to master.

Sessions 7.1 (Nov 19): Strategic Capabilities for Mass Customization

Why MC Organizations Fail

In this session, Dominik Walcher (Salzburg University of Applied Sciences) will explain the development of a classification system for failure reasons of MC organizations based on literature review both form entrepreneurship and Mass Customization research as well as qualitative expert interviews. He will then discuss the exemplary application of this system to the Custom Foot failure case study.

Value Creation by Mass Customization: An Analysis of the Three Core Capabilities of Mass Customization

This part will focus on the key essentials of Mass Customization. Thorsten Harzer and Frank Piller (RWTH Aachen University) and  Fabrizio Salvador (Instituto de Empresa) will give an insight in and discuss the importance of the three core capabilities of Mass Customization.

Comparing Four Personalization Approaches to Understand Value of Personalization

Chenjie Wang (Georgia Tech) and Mitchell Tseng (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) will present the findings of their study regarding sources of distinctive value as being perceived “unique” by individual consumers. Based on the results of their investigative work they will share their conclusion about how different business models and associated design approaches can be developed to augment the value of product design. Presenting four different approaches in personalized products they will discuss different ways of customer engagement with respect to these four values, analyzing how personalization values are addressed and identifying their unique design features, user interactions and other relevant parameters in design ecosystems.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

Full program of #MCPC2011 published: More than 150 Presentations on Mass Customization, Customer Co-Creation & Open Innovation

  

 Finally, the full conference program of the MCPC has been released. There still are a few things to update and exchange, but 95% of the program are fixed!

In addition to hundreds of CEOs, Founders, Directors, and Practice Leaders of the companies that apply and support mass customization, customer co-creation and open innovation successfully, many of the world's leading researchers in these areas will present latest findings in an accessible way.

The interactive conference format of the MCPC 2011, supported by the proximity to the Silicon Valley / Bay Area entrepreneurship and investment community, allows for deep interaction and networking between the participants. There are more than 150 presentations, panels, or workgroups on the program!

Join us in a lively exchange on best practices, case studies, success factors and open business models that focus on the top management and leadership issues and / or provide deep insights into specific design parameters of the tools and technologies behind open co-creation and mass customization.

Some selected topics of presentations and panels at the MCPC include:

- Setting up a mass customization business model;
- The market for mass customization;
- Defining a customer co-creation initiative that works;
- Managing customer-centric supply chains and fulfillment:
- Design elements of successful configuration toolkits;
- Metrics for open innovation;
- Implementing open innovation in an R&D organization;
- Learning from failures of the early pioneers;
- Getting VC investments for business models for MCP;
- Optimal incentives for internal and external participants;
- Getting corporate buy-in for customer co-design and OI;
- And much more!!

Before the main conference (Nov 18-19), a special business seminar provides executable frameworks for the management of mass customization and open innovation and a focused view on future topics.

Please register as soon as possible, as seats are limited and many are already taken! The conference hotel is conveniently located between San Francisco Airport (SFO) and Silicon Valley and allows for very efficient travel.

We hope to meet you in San Francisco in late Nov !

Frank Piller and Henry Chesbrough

MCPC 2011 Co-Chairs 

http://www.mcpc2011.com | MCPC2011 Full Program

 

#MCPC2011 Program Highlight: Open Innovation Capabilities

 

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

Open Innovation has developed far beyond the state of a niche-method practiced only by a selective few entrepreneurs. With the evolution of the internet to "Web 2.0" the chances offered by employing this global meeting place to integrate consumers into the innovation process has been understood long since by large and small companies alike. Still the capabilities of Open Innovation are not been used to their fullest by many who could profit from its broader use. In sessions 6.4 and 7.4 we will take a look at what is possible and how it can be achieved.

Sessions 6.4 & 7.4 (Nov 19): Open Innovation Capabilities

Paradigm Shift of Innovation Processes

The phenomena MC, OI and OSI do not only stand for interactive business models but also represent the radical opening of the value creation chain on an unprecedented scale.
Doris Blutner (RWTH Aachen University) will explain how a generalized inclusion for people to participate in the designing process develops into a new paradigm of the genesis of innovations, which equals a discovery procedure, which – through its collective action – stirs up the economic competition, and whose products cannot be attributed to national origin any longer.

Management of Uncertainty: The Key for Open Innovation

Transformation in modern society is typified as a changeover from uncomplicated/simple/first modernity to reflexive/automatic/late modernity. Reflexive modernization is based on the idea of a risk society, forced individualization and multidimensional globalization which deeply manipulates the context for open innovation. Since managing uncertainty can be regarded as a core practice of successful innovation management, Robert Freund and Zoran Anisic will discuss open innovation from the second modernity point of view and shows new ways of dealing with uncertainty.

Emerging Capabilities of Open Innovation in Networks

In this presentation Astrid Lassen, Alexia Jacobsen, Sören Poulsen, Sören Wandahl and Henrik Sörensen (Aalborg University) will particularly focus on determining how to engage a willing but largely inexperienced network of companies in user-driven innovation. They will identify essential antecedent of user driven innovation and provide insights into how to stimulate and develop emerging capabilities of open innovation, especially in an industrial context.

Implementing Open Innovation: Groundwork on a Strategic Transformation Model for Multinational Companies

In this part Norman Mueller (Anglia Ruskin University) will aim to extend the understanding about the interface of organizational behavior/development and Open Innovation, specifically about how OI is implemented and adopted within multinational companies (MNCs). He will especially focus on human interactions in connection with change processes, taking an aggregated view on inter-dependencies between departments within MNCs.

On Becoming a User-Driven Firm: Slow-Cooked for Extra Goodness?

Mika Westerlund (Aalto University) and Seppo Leminen (Laurea University of Applied Sciences) will reveal what it takes for established firms to shift from traditional provider-driven innovators into modern-day user-driven co-creators. Based on firms’ experiences they identified four distinct phases of becoming a user-driven firm which they will describe and analyze. Their presentation will be completed by a discussion on organizational challenges that a firm faces on the sometimes long way towards an open organization.

Trust is Good, Control is Better: An Open Innovation-Controlling for SME

Due to a lack of respective research Small and Medium Enterprises currently have no instrument helping them to decide whether they should adopt Open Innovation.
Jessica Koch, Eckart Hauck and Ingrid Isenhardt (RWTH Aachen University) will present their research on the topic of the efficiency of OI for SMEs and talk about the development of an instrument that can help SMEs to decided whether employing OI is worthwhile or not.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

Free Webinar: Cracking the Code of Mass Customization

 
You are all invited to join a free webinar I am doing on this Thursday, October 13, 2011 1:00 pm. (EDT) (19:00 Berlin Time, 18:00 London Time) with BrandSquare.

The webinar is an updated presentation on our paper with the same title in MIT Sloan Mgmt Review, and also will serve well as an introduction into some of the topics of the MCPC conference.

Free registration via this LINK!

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights: Rapid Innovation and Manufacturing in an International Production Enviroment

 

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

In a world of global markets and constant technical innovation one has to live up to the challenge of not only surviving on the individual markets but to out-innovate any competition at the highest pace possible. It goes without saying that for producing companies, production speed is a key competency. In sessions 6.3 & 7.3 we will take a look at expert techniques to accomplish this tough yet vital mission. 

Sessions 6.3 & 7.3 (Nov 19): Rapid Innovation and Manufacturing in an International Production Enviroment

Rapid Response Manufacturing in RIO South Texas Region

Opening Session 6.3, Miguel Gonzalez, Jianzhi Li and Douglas Timmer (University of Texas-Pan American) will speak about their experiences with rapid response manufacturing techniques in their home region of South Texas.

Experiences in Disburse Engineering Design Education Targeted on Rapid Innovation & Manufacturing

In this part Jianzhi Li, John Lloyd, Miguel Gonzalez, Douglas Timmer (University of Texas-Pan American) will share some of their experiences on the topic of disburse engineering design education with a special focus on its application in rapid innovation and manufacturing.

Information Technology Suitability Index for Mass Customization

In their presentation, Douglas Timmer and Miguel Gonzalez ( University of Texas-Pan American) will discuss the suitability of information technology in regards of mass customization.

Case Studies of Rapid Response Manufacturing in an International Production System

As a response to intensified competition, changing customer needs and greatly shortened product life cycles, ALPS as a global parts supplier to major automakers has been implementing rapid response manufacturing and mass customization technologies in order to capture and satisfy customer requirements in a timely and efficient manner.

In their presentation, Edi Sanjoto (ALPS Automotive) and Miguel Gonzalez (University of Texas-Pan American) will introduce best practices and strategies which allowed ALPS to connect with customers effectively and to quickly identify product variations. Furthermore they will compare different configurations of manufacturing lines with mass customization in mind, based on which they will give their recommendations for rapid response manufacturing strategies.

Reconfigurable Strategies to Hammer Open Innovation Concepts into the Mass Customized Automobile Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry in general and the automotive industry in particular is distinguished by rapid globalization, high mass customization, regionalization, value chain restructuring and reduced product as well as innovation life cycles. This in turn has compelled the automotive manufacturers to open up their innovation process to better address the customer needs readily by exploiting efficient outsourcing strategies.

Sarfraz Minhas, Ulrich Berger and Christiane Hipp (Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus) will discuss the need for reconfigurable approaches in planning as well as in control to address mass- customization-induced complexities under the umbrella of open innovation. A reconfigurable production control will be proposed in the body-in-white production, encompassing the configuration of specific setups to enable co-development in a distributed production environment, exploiting ICT technologies to produce mass customized products.

Innovations in Mechatronic Products and Mass Customization

Mass Customization has been recognized as a successful strategy in the design and development of products tailored to customer needs. Global competition demands new products with added functionalities, as in the case of mechatronic products.  These products are becoming more and more important as a product type and new inventions have resulted in drastic changes in design and development of mechatronic products, both standalone and enhancing conventional mechanical systems.

In this part, Tufail Habib, Kaj Jörgensen and Kjeld Nielsen (Aalborg University) will present the particular structure and properties of mechatronic products compared to conventional mechanical systems.Following that they will give an overview of typical changes regarding functionalities from mechanical products towards mechatronic products.

Utilising Mass Customisation Methods for Modular ManufacturingSystem Design

In order to operate under and take advantage of the specific dynamics of today's markets, manufacturing processes have to be robust to product changes – a contradiction to traditional manufacturing systems developed as dedicated engineer-to-order solutions, tailored to production of a specific product or a limited product assortment. In response, modular manufacturing concepts are evolving, designed with the needed responsiveness in mind, being the manufacturing paradigm of Mass Customisation.

Research focus has been on the basic principles and enabling technologies, while modular architectures and system design have received less attention. A potential to fill these gaps by applying selected design theories and methods of MC has been identified. Based on a communality analysis between these theories/methods and the modular manufacturing approach, Steffen Joergensen, Alexia Jacobsen, Kjeld Nielsen, Ole Madsen and Kaj Jörgensen (Aalborg University) will discuss and evaluate the potentials and show possible obstacles of application.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#mcpc2011 program highlights: Best practices in mass customization - CEO presentations

The MCPC 2011 conference is coming closer, and in a series of postings, I will introduce some the many interesting sessions that we will have between Nov 16-19. For mroe info on the conference, follow the links at the end of this mail.

One of the large opportunities of the MCPC conference is to meet many people running a mass customization or open innovation initiative in person and learn from their experiences. One of the sessions highlighting this is the

Session 1.1 (Nov 18): Best Practices in MC - CEO Presentations

Meik Lindberg is one of the leading entrepreneurs in Europe's personalization and customization business. He is the founder of www.d-o-m.org, a large provider of customized printing. In his presentation, however, he will share his experience in launching a iTunes Top10 App that has sold millions of copies. Personalization here has been key to success.

Jan-Christoph Goetze will share how PersonalNOVEL became the world's leading and by far most innovative purveyor of personalised books. PersonalNOVEL was founded in 2003 and is headqurtered in Munich, Germany with subsidiaries in London and Zürich. The US launch will follow in 2012. Jan-Christoph will share how his company has perfectioned all different aspects of an online business dealing with mass customization: Gaining the data from the customer, processing the book, distribution, customer service and after sales mangement.

Anthony Flynn will share You Bar's journey from his mother's kitchen to an 8,200 square foot commercial warehouse, becoming a market leader in the customized food business. Customization obliges the customer to become co-creator and innovator, necessitating a dialogue between customer and company which allows each to better satisfy the evolving needs of the other. Sounds easy, but to fulfilling this statement has many challenges during the implementation.

Aymeric Malherbe will present her business Typlume & Graphine create customized books starring the child best friend: their favorite teddy bear or toy. Production is based on automated creations and partnerships with local manufacturers.

More info on the MCPC 2011:

- MCPC 2011 Business Seminar: Nov 16-17. Main Conference: Nov 17-19

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- More news about the conference in this blog

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights - Developing Great Configuration Toolkits for Mass Customization

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

In our research on the core capabilities that characterize a successful mass customization enterprise, we have identified "choice naviagtion" as one of these capabilitues. This session of the MCPC 2011 conference presents the latest inisghts from managers and researchers on developing a great toolkit for choice navigation.

Sessions 5.3 (Nov 19): Customer Co-Creation and Configuration Toolkits

Customizing Complexity - Lessons Learned from Configurator Projects

Although the configuration process is the core of every mass customization project and crucial for the success, the high number of failures shows that the complexity of configuration mechanisms is continuously underestimated. What critical factors do play a role in making it right? Which peculiarities should be considered to avoid traps? Based on the data generated by cyLEDGE's configurator-database.com, Paul Blazek (cyLEDGE) and Klaus Pilsl (IndiValue) will take a look at different approaches to customize products and present the biggest barriers and most important enablers which they have verified in their own configuration projects. Their findings show the existence of recurring patterns that determine success or failure.

Definition of a Framework for Configuration

The review of literature shows a deterioration of the understanding of configuration. The definition of configuration has become ambiguous as different research groups defines configuration differently. In this presentation Klaes Ladeby (Technical University of Denmark) will propose a framework for configuration that permits a more precise understanding of a configuration system, an understanding of how the configuration system relates to other systems, and a definition of the basic concepts in configuration. The total configuration system, together with the definition of key concepts, comprises a strong frame of reference when working with analysing configuration systems.

Collaborative Technology in Online Value Co-Creation: The Emergent Practice of Electronic Mass Customization

In response to the wide ambiguity in terms of the underlying efficient value co-creation processes in mass customization, Krista Palmu, Jerry-Mikael Lindholm and Petri Parvinen (Aalto University) have conducted an exploratory study to examine how collaborative technology is used to facilitate online value co-creation activities between the buyer and seller. They will present their explorations of the emergent, yet insufficiently studied, electronic mass customization brought on by the advanced technologies. Based on in-depth themed interviews and netnography, they will provide a value co-creation framework for understanding how the use of collaborative technologies could benefit mass customization industry and, thus, develop competitive advantage for companies and additional value for customers.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights - CEOs Report on Best Practices in MC and Personalization - Learning from experience

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

This will become a very exciting session based on MANY years of experience. The unifying element of these three talks are the capabilities of making mass customization happen. Learn about Robust Processes and Solution Space design in the first talk, a leading application of Choice Navigation in the second, and get the whole story and update of MVM - a pionieer in virual models.

Sessions 6.1 (Nov 19): Best Practices in MC and Personalization - CEO Presentations

Case Study: The Transition from Engineer-to-Order to Mass Customization in the Fire/Rescue Industry

David Gardner (Founder and Principal of mass-customization-expert) has over 30 years of experience in the design and integration of innovative business process and information technology solutions for "start-up" as well as established companies.

His case study presentation will focus on the key business drivers behind the transition from an engineer-to-order business model to the mass customization business model in the fire/rescue industry. He will examine the steps undertaken to make the transition and the challenges encountered overcoming company and industry inertia.

LOFT - a 24/7 Anywhere Showeroom - Staging a Multiverse Experience

In this presentation, Conny Dorrestijn (Chief Marketing Officer of NedSense) will present his companie's business case for LOFT which is based on two major external drivers: the ‘personalization and ME experience 24/7 anywhere’ demands of a global audience and rapidly increasing costs, competition and complexity of the textile & apparel industry. He will show how the LOFT customer experience engine offers a showroom experience anytime, anywhere and demonstrates the full collection of various textiles, floorings and wallpapers on the customer’s desired real object through the unique LOFT 3D scan technology. Conny Dorrestijn will explain how LOFT enables designers and manufacturers to offer their sales teams and end users, through their websites, the opportunity to upload their own 2D pictures which are instantly converted into 3-D environments in which the user can interact.

MyVirtualModel 2.0

Gregory Saumier-Finch (General Manager of My Virtual Model) will give insight into the new iteration of My Virtual Model's virtual garment presentation software, including 2-D to 3-D image conversion technology. MVM has been a pioneer in the field. After some hickups and shakes, the company is back in business, Gregory, emplyee #3 of MVM and with the company for over ten years, will share his expiernces and advice in this upcoming field of MC.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights - Mass Customization and Open Innovation in the Fashion Industries

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

Since the beginning of the MCPC conference series, clothing and footwear products have been has discussed extensily during this event. Also, just by looking onto the numbers, these industries are leading the mass customization movement. At the same time, some of the early pioneers in Crowdsourcing, Threadless, also focused on this industry.

A dedicated track at the MCPC2011 will provide a closer look on this topic.

Sessions 5.2 and 6.2 (Nov 19): A Special Focus on the Fashion Industries

Why Customization of Footwear is Not Fit for Masses

Market facts prove that, despite a certain number of valorous entrepreneurs are there to exploit the advantages of the new business model, the benefits of personalization of products have not yet reached the shoe wearing masses. Sergio Dulio will present the example of a new Italian brand in the field of luxury bespoke men shoes and the presentation of its technical and market expansion plans, it will be discussed why customization and masses, at least in the field of footwear, don’t’ seem to go together as expected and a theory will be formulated to support the idea that, possibly, this is the right approach to a consumer centric shoe world.

Customization in Apparel Design

Advanced customization and 3D visualization are in the core of the latest planned solutions to enhance customer's shopping experience and brand loyalty, and with the help of advanced GPUs the industry is a step closer in creating a better, more precise design and shopping environment. Yoram Burg (Optitex) will present and discuss the latest projects his company is involved in that include deploying the 3D customized solutions in the worlds of movies, home sewing, apparel design, animation and art work, and give a preview on the next level of solutions currently in development by OptiTex.

ErtlRenz Sport Shoes World - Adapted to Improve the Customer's Performance

While many professional athletes are outfitted over long periods of time by their sponsoring sports brand through the same service people, the “normal” customer typically buys his standardized equipment by individual picks from different stores. Dirk Rutschmann (Corpus-e), Sven Renz and Wolfgang Richter (ErtlRenz) will report from the ErtlRenz Sport Shoes World and present how they embrace the customer over his personal sports career providing him individual sport shoes for maximum performance and comfort like a pro.

E-Co-Creation for Fashion

The Web 2.0 revolution is changing perceptions and influencing a younger generation, but can co-creation challenge traditional design methods for fashion and promote sustainability, and can designing together enable the democratization of fashion? Jen Ballie, Philip Delamore (London College of Fashion) will present a mapping of co-creation within a fashion context, using participatory practice methods. A series of case studies will be used to define co-creation communities, the role of the individual and the sustainable benefits of working together. The viewpoint of both the designer and consumer will be used to illustrate their role and relationship, and to define methods and toolkits for how they can work together.

CoReNET - Value Co-Creation of Small Series Customized Healthy, Fashionable Clothing, Footwear and Assessories

In this presentation, Dieter Stellmach (DITF Denkendorf) will give an insight into CoReNET - Customer-ORiented and Eco-friendly NETworks for healthy fashionable goods: A toolset and first practical experiences for value co-creation of small series customised healthy fashionable clothing, footwear and accessories.

The Fitting of Pants

When fitting pants, a garment can have the correct horizontal and vertical dimensions, but not fit properly. This is a particular problem at the crotch, where there is a saddle point on the abstracted 3D form of the body, where the front and back of the body are joined in the crotch area and one leg transitions through the crotch area to the other. Bonny Carmicino has determined that these fit problems are the result of patterns that do not properly fit the crotch curve and are not properly balanced and will present new methods of creating the proper crotch curve and balancing pants, both of which produce excellent results on subjects of all shapes (including “normal” and also atypically- and asymmetrically-shaped subjects).

Configurator for Apparel Manufactoring within the Mass Customization Program

Companies need to acquire and manage a knowledge base of consumers’ needs and preferences in order to meet, even surpass, customer's expectations. In the fashion & clothing industry, mass customization is not generally well understood or implemented due to difficulties related to measurements, pattern adaptation, and inflexible manufacturing processes. Jocelyn Bellemare (Université du Québec à Montréal), Serge Carrier and Pierre Baptiste (Montreal University) will present their identification of the fundamental variables and data necessary to produce custom-made clothing, the development of a configurator based on such data, and how to enable the efficient transmission of configurator generated information to computerized production systems.

--- And these are just some of the talks on this industry!! check the full program for more!!

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

(updated) #MCPC2011 Program Highlights - Advancing Health Care by MC and OI

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

Service customization has been named since several years as a hot topic with too little research about it .Henry Chesbrough just broad Open Service Innovation into focus with his new book. In this session, we will focus on a special service application: Helath care. How can our health care systems and service delivered to their users being enhanced by mass customization thinking and methods of open innovation?

Sessions 5.1 (Nov 19): Advancing Health Care by MC and OI

The Market for Innovation in Healthcare in Europe: Can Open Innovation Help Overcome Embedded Inefficiencies?

The introduction of both innovative products and services and new organizational structures in the healthcare sector will be crucial to meet the goal of providing high quality care and optimal living conditions for elderly people at affordable cost. The costs of developing products for these markets are high for all companies. Yet innovative products are seen as means by which new forms of care may be afforded for a growing elderly population. Terence Mughan (Anglia Ruskin University) will present his findings regarding whether or not open innovation can help resolve this conundrum.

Implementing Additive Manufacturing in the Custom Orthotic Industry: Productivity and Design Implications

As Additive Manufacturing (AM) is being applied to a wide variety of fields it is recognized that the medical and particularly the orthotics and prosthetics fields require further analysis in terms of design, cost, productivity and quality. AM must be prepared to challenge currently established methods for the creation of orthotics. Javier Munguia and Kenneth Dalgarno (Newcastle University) analyze the case of the adoption of AM technologies by a SME dedicated to the customized fabrication of foot and Ankle Foot Orthotics (AFO). This includes the adoption of digital scanning technologies coupled with additive manufacture for the creation of a new generation of orthotics.

Variety Management of Personalized Braided Stents

Prefabricated, standardized implants do not correspond exactly to the shape and nature of the structure to be substituted in the human body. Tailor-made medical devices can offer a much more effective therapy than off the shelf products. To make long-term individualized implants accessible to a large number of patients, the development of a mass customization solution is essential. Silke Tomoscheit, Nina Laar, Fabian Schreiber and Annahit Arshi (RWTH Aachen University) will present how the technology of braided stents offers new opportunities in manufacturing for patient-specific implants for the treatment of arterial occlusive disease.

Individual Nutrition - Development and Application of a Classification System

The pursuit of health and happiness can be seen as strong trends influencing today’s economy. With the help of nutrition both aims can be achieved. Requirements regarding functional as well as hedonic solutions differ from person to person. Consequently more and more providers of customizable food / individual nutrition can be found. Dominik Walcher (University of Applied Sciences Salzburg) and Benedikt Goellner will provide an insight into the state of the art of this emerging field.

 

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights - Overcoming Barriers for Open Innovation

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

The relationship of mass customization and sustainability has discussed since quite a while, but still there is very little knowledge about this field. A dedicated track at the MCPC2011 will provide a closer look on this topic.

Sessions 2.4 (Nov 18): Overcoming Barriers for Open Innovation

The Not-Invented-Here-Syndrome: an Investigation of an Important Barrier Hampering Open Innovation Processes

In innovation literature numerous studies focus on the interaction with external partners for value creation and the importance of integrating external knowledge in the process of new product development (NPD) to successfully create (breakthrough) innovation. A failure is often explained by the Not-Invented-Here (NIH)-Syndrome, a negative attitude (or prejudice) towards external knowledge.David Antons, Mathieu Declerck and Kathleen Diener (RWTH Aachen) will put attention on the cognitive perspective and measure the NIH-attitude implicitly by applying the psychological method of the IAT (implicit association test). 

Back to the Roots of Open Innovation: The Intergroup Bias in the Evolution of External Ideas

The ability to integrate external innovation ideas is crucial for Open Innovation and Mass Customization. It often seems to be problematic as external ideas are reported to be rejected by the company’s employees. On the other hand there are arguments for the assumption that these ideas are evaluated overly positive. Wolfgang Gruel and Christoph Ihl (RWTH Aachen) will take a closer look at an experiment with 3755 participants in a multinational company that showed evidence for both assumptions - but with no effects on average.

Is Not-Sold-Here a "Syndrome"? Reasons for Limiting Outbound Open Innovation

The Not-Sold-Here (NSH) syndrome has been characterized as protective attitude, rooted in the fear of losing control over technology that causes companies to be unable to actively engage in outbound open innovation, even though the companies have a strategy to do so. Antonie Jetter, Pattravadee Ploykitikoon and Charles Weber (Portland State University) will present initial findings from a series of interviews with R&D decision makers that are engaged in technology commercialization, showing that NSH differs substantially from the Not-Invented-Here syndrome because NSH drivers are mainly organizational, rather than attitudinal.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights - Mass Customization as a Driver for Sustainability

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

The relationship of mass customization and sustainability has discussed since quite a while, but still there is very little knowledge about this field. A dedicated track at the MCPC2011 will provide a closer look on this topic.

Sessions 2.2, 3.2 and 4.2 (Nov 18): Environmental Sustainability and MC

Mass Customization and Sustainability - An Introduction

An introduction to the general topic of this session will be held by Frank Steiner (RWTH Aachen University).

Is Mass Customization Sustainable?

Mass Customizers are like other companies currently experiencing an increasing customer demand for environmentally sustainable products as well as an increasingly strict legislation regarding environmental sustainability. In this presentation Thomas Petersen,  Kaj Jörgensen, Kjeld Nielsen, Stig Taps (Aalborg University) will address the issue whether the concepts mass customization and sustainability can be integrated by asking the question: can mass customized products be sustainable?

Proposal of a  Reference Framework to Integrate Sustainability and Mass Customization in a Production Paradigm

Mass customization strategy is applied by firms in order to make them more customer-oriented and make each individual customer a source of opportunity and hence profit for the firm. Sustainability on the other hand brings not only eco-efficiency for the company, but also has a great impact on economic efficiency and social perspective of the firm. Donatella Corti, Marco Taisch, Golboo Pourabdollahian (Milan University), Andrea Bettoni, Paolo Pedrazzoli and Luca Canetta (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of South Switzerland) will show how integrating these two concepts together to develop a new strategy of sustainable mass customization can create a significant value for companies in today’s globally competitive environment.

Modeling Framework to Evaluate Sustainability Performance of Mass Customization Solutions

In this presentation Fazleena Badurdeen (University of Kentucky) and Ken Wijekoon will present a framework to optimize the configuration of customizable solutions (products or product-service systems) to ensure economic, environmental and societal sustainability requirements are satisfied. Activities across the total product life cycle are considered to develop a model to evaluate closed-loop flow assuming a modular product where customization can be achieved by selecting from alternatives.

Towards an Integrated Mass Customization and Sustainability Assessment Framework

The new challenge of sustainable development adds more requirements to be dealt with in order to keep their competitiveness and sustain their position in the market. For the mass customization enterprises, sustainability performance may depend on several mass customization enablers, thus these two concepts needs to be assessed together in order to foster both. Khaled Medini, Catherine da Cunha and Alain Bernard (Nantes University) will take a closer look at enterprise interactions with environment, society and economical environment and how they can be interpreted as a first step to establish an enterprise model in the mass customization and sustainability context.
 

Supporting Sustainability and Personalization with Product Architecture

Consumers as well as governments are applying constant pressure on companies to adopt a more sustainable strategy, consumers request greener products and governments applies rules for reuse and more eco-friendly manufacturing. There are several factors counting in favor or against the sustainability of MCPC products.

Modularization is a driver for MCPC and earlier research within product architecture has indicated that modularization could support sustainability. In their presentation Thomas Petersen,  Kaj Jörgensen, Kjeld Nielsen, Stig Taps (Aalborg University) will present their empiric work on the drivers for modularization with focus on sustainability and MCPC.

Smart Customization: The New Driver of Sustainability. A Case Study in Custom vs. Standard Men's Dress Shirts

In 2009 Ryan Chin and Daniel Smithwick (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) published "Environmental Impacts of Utilizing Mass Customization," a paper that focused on sustainability benefits of mass customized men's dress shirts by examining the manufacture, distribution, and use of custom vs. standard off-the-rack men’s dress shirts. In this presentation they will extend this research in breadth and depth by conducting a series of detailed experiments focusing on the total consumer experience of custom vs. standard men's dress shirts. 

Co-Creation and Mass Customization from a Triple Bottom Line Approach

Very often mass customized products are considered more sustainable than mass produced products. However, there is little evidence that this is the actual case, there are however components in those supply chains that do suggest that less waste is produced. Jonas Larsson, Joel Peterson and Klas Hjort (University of Boras) will map and analyse three supply chains with different offerings of mass customised or co-created products from a social, environmental and economic perspective i.e. the triple bottom line. It will not be possible to conclude whether these supply chains are sustainable or not but rather to compare the supply chains with each other from the triple bottom line perspective. The work is based on qualitative and quantitative data and case studies of three supply chains.

MCPC: The Enabler to Open the Next Age, It's Opportunity and Challenge, Report from Japan Post 3.11 Earthquake

Yasuyuki Cho (Wacoal) is an MCPC practitioner born and living in Japan. Under the deep impression of the Tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 he changed the subject of his presentation to reflect on MCPC and its chances and opportunities for a sustainable life and business.

Customization and Manufacturing Sustainability: General Considerations and Footwear Investigation

To adapt to global competitive pressures, European Industry must develop methods and enabling technologies towards a personalized, customer oriented and sustainable manufacturing. To this end, a key question to be addressed is whether Mass Customization can be regarded as one of the main driving forces to achieve effective Sustainability, or rather a burden.
Andrea Bettoni, Paolo Pedrazzoli, Luca Canetta, Marzio Sorlini, Claudio R. Boer (University of Applied Sciences and Arts of South Switzerland) and Donatella Corti (Milan University) will first portray the two concepts of mass customization and sustainability and will then propose a framework to establish a link and evaluate it, also with the support of concrete examples in footwear.

 

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights - CEOs of Open Innovation Accelerators Share Experiences at MCPC

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

In this session, the CEOs and founders of some of the most successful intermediaries for open innovation will reveal some of their secrets on how to employ open innovation and customer co-creation. I am personally looking forward very much to this session as in the past years, it has been these "open innovation accelerators" that have been the drivers behind the development of open innovation in practice.

Sessions 2.3 and 3.3 (Nov 18): Open Innovation Accelerators - CEO Presentations

9 Ways to Get Your Team Ready for Co-Creation

In this session Martijn Pater and Marieke Streefkerk of Fronteer Strategy, a consultancy specialised in innovation, co-creation and brand development, will identify various social, psychological and organisational barriers that can be encountered when starting co-creation within an organisation as a result of the change process set in motion when changing to an open innovation approach. They will offer 9 practical ways to overcome these barriers and to get your team ready for co-creation by providing clear direction, motivating them and creating a supportive environment. 

Open Innovation and Co-Creation: From Single Projects to Long-Term Programmes

Dr. Michael Bartl (CEO of Hyve) will  provide a conceptual framework how companies can implement co-creation activities in a permanent and enduring way. A holistic approach of collaborative innovation requires not only a skill set of tools and methods but also adapted innovation processes, organizational routines and cultures. The introduced programmatic approach implies the need to think of co-creation as a strategic programme rather than as a “just in time” outsourcing of innovation tasks.

The Co-Creative Organization of the Future

 While most brands embrace customer insight, direct involvement of customers in creative tasks is a relatively new approach. In this presentation Dr. Nick Coates and Jennifer Yazdi (Promise Corporation) will discuss why organizations that are going to move beyond tactical / sporadic co-creation will need to re-think some of their orthodoxies and start ‘being co-creative’. To demonstrate their points they will  present 2 case studies about co-creation approaches that start to show a pathway towards ‘co-creativity’.

Quebec Seeks Solutions: A Unique Setup to Profit from Open Innovation

This presentation will be held by Carl Viel and Christophe Deutsch. They will share the latest information on the Quebec Seeks Solutions conference -- a new form of offline co-creation.

To Be Or Not to Be - The Magic of Selecting the RIght Idea

In this presentation Andera Gadeib, CEO of Dialego, will reveal some very useful tricks that can help you to accelerate innovation process by reducing the great quantity of text based ideas using text mining techniques. The experiences discussed result from several innovation projects accompanied within different industries, mostly fast moving consumer goods companies (FMCG) in Europe.

The Creative Consumer

Current trends in consumer innovation have seen traditional market research focus groups and surveys increasingly replaced or complemented by crowd-sourcing, social media monitoring, neuroscience, and ethnography among others. Dr. Nick Coates and Jennifer Yazdi (Promise Corporation), however, believe that there is a bigger role for the customer which is supported by the development of prosumer technology and online collaboration tools. How can companies best use the creative potential of the creative consumer? Coates and Yazdi will try to answer this question by presenting their expert's guide to tools and techniques from our 15 years of experience working with organizations from all over the globe.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 program highlights - MC and OI in Architecture and Construction

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

One of the upcoming topics of in mass customization is the application of processes for  architecture and construction. A special stream of sessions will present the latest thooughts on this area. 

Sessions 1.6/and 2.6 (Nov 18): MC and OI in Architecture and Construction 

MC and OI in Architecture: An Introduction

Presented by track chair Poorang Piroozfar. Poorang also is the co-editor of an upcoming book (with Frank Piller) on Mass Customisation and Personalisation in Architecture and Constructio, to be published with Taylor and Francis in 2012.

Opening Innovation in the Built Enviroment -- Initial Lessons from an Open Innovation Initiative in Denmark

In this talk Mikkel Thomassen and Rune Westergaard (Smith Innovation) will discuss how open innovation can be used to leverage innovation in construction, based on empirical findings in the first analytical phase of a five year open innovation platform initiative launched 2011. They will debate if open innovation methods can be a way to shortcut the structural barriers to innovation in this major industry.  

A Digital Platform for Mass Customization of Housing

The concept of employing computer- based design systems towards mass customization of housing has been an interesting area of research during the last few decades as an outcome of emerging computation techniques in architecture. Different systems have been employed with the aim of efficiently engaging future home buyers in the design of their homes. Basem Eid Mohamed (McGill School of Architecture) discusses a systematically formalized approach for developing design systems for mass customization of housing. 

Open Innovation and the 'Patent Right' in Design: Striking a Balance Using the Game Theory

In Open Innovation, the factor of 'patent law', which is normally expected to result in higher costs, can become crucial. Building on their previous experience in introducing a toolkit based on Game Theory to facilitate MC in BE,  Poorang Piroozfar (University of Brighton) and  Ghashang Piroozfar (University of Calgary) use this theory to investigate whether or not a Nash Equilibrium can be struck between increased costs of intellectual property rights and the level of customer satisfaction as a result of open innovation in MC.

 

Mass Customization in Construction Industry: Closing the Gap Between Design and Production

Mass customization in construction industry is intended as a process able to give high level of personalization at lower costs, while increasing quality and meeting designers needs.Ingrid Paoletti and Elena Magarotto (Milan University) will discuss specific aspects of mass customization in construction industry with a swot analysis and present some examples of technologies by Italian suppliers in order to understand their skills or difficulties related to this specific context.

Adoption of a Modular Architecture in a Prefabricated System for House Building in the UK

Developing strategies that enable housing products to be customized within acceptable cost and order-to-delivery lead times is still a challenge. In this presentation Cecilia G. da Rocha, Carlos T. Formoso (Rio Grande University),  Will Swan, Carl Abbott and Michail Kagioglou (University of Salford) will examine the adoption of a modular architecture in the design of a prefabricated system for house building in the UK. They will give an overview of the state of the art and propose enhancements in modules design with the aim of increasing the economies of scope.

Modules in Historic Building Construction According to the Copenhagen Building Code

Christian Thuesen, Lars Hvam, Niels Henrik Mortensen (Technical University of Denmark) and Anders Kudsk (NCC.dk) will talk about their investigations, based on the theory of product architecture and product modularization, on whether examples of the use of well-defined interfaces can be found. They will show how the use of such interfaces has influenced former building processes and how they were implemented and kept stable over decades.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 Program Highlights - Session on Design for Mass Customization and Personalization presents Roger Jiao and Dave Sloan

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

One of the lestablished researchers in the mass customization domain is Roger Jiao from Georgia Tech University. He is chairing the "Design for Mass Customization" track of the conference, that looks into practices and methods to develop product architectures and modular product families.  The first session will provide a great overview of the field and developments leading to the state of the art. I personally are especially looking forward to the presentation by Dave Sloan from Treehouselogic (he has a great blog!!!) who will comment on the backgrounds why MC is taking off now.

 

Session 1.5 (Nov 18): Design for MC and Personalization

Design for Mass Customization And Personalization: A Review

 Product design has gone beyond the traditional objective of attaining functional requirements to meeting the ultimate goal of customer satisfaction. Design methods for mass customization can only satisfy customers’ functional needs by offering choices through configuration of existing components with pre-programmed configuration rules. Roger Jiao (Georgia Tech) provides a review of recent research relevant to the popular personalization concept with Special emphasis on user experience, customer participation and product differentiation.

How the Evolution of the Internet Has Spurred Mass Customization

In this talk Dave Sloan, CEO of Treehouse Logic, focus on how the Internet landscape and consumer demand for Internet tools have changed in the past 2-3 years. The Internet has become faster, more powerful, more adopted, more social, and more mobile. All these factors contribute to the adoption of online customization.

Understanding Socio Technical Modularity - Reinterpreting Modularity from Actor Network Theory

 Modularity has gained an increasing popularity as a central concept for exploring product-, process- , organization- and supply chain structure. The predominant understanding of modularity however faces difficulties in explaining the social dimension of modularity. In their presentation Christian Thuesen, Lars Hvam (Technical University of Denmark) and Anders Kudsk (NCC.dk) will address this gap, offering a reinterpretation of the modularity concept from a socio-technical perspective in general and Actor Network Theory in particular.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#MCPC2011 program highlights - Customer Co-Creation for Ideation

In a series of postings, we present some of the program highligths of the MCPC 2011 conference. The following is just one of more than 50 sessions we will host on Nov 16-19 in San Francisco, CA.

One of the main topics of the MCPC 2011 will be co-creation with customes and users. We are glad that we could win a number of high profile researchers to present their latest studies on customer co-creation. This session focuses on co-creation for idea generation.  

Session 1.3 (Nov 18): Customer Co-Creation for Ideation

The Future of Crowdsourcing - From Idea Contests to MASSive Ideation

Johann Füller(CEO of HYVE), Katja Hutter and Julia Hautz (Insbruck University) provide an overview of crowd sourcing practices for the future and introduces the “MASSive Ideation” approach which supports generating and evaluating numerous ideas and allows for the further elaboration of top-ranked ideas into a handful of the most promising concepts. This is done in collaboration with a large and geographically scattered crowd. The software-based approach captures the advantages of both real-life innovation workshops and virtual online interaction to facilitate the generation of elaborated product or service concepts.

Coopetition in Virtual Communities: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Virtual communities provide an essential outlet for customer co-creation. Vera Blaszevic, Alexandra Gatzweiler and Evalotte Lindgens (RWTH Aachen University) and Sophie Einwächter (Bochum University) talk about how to use the concept of coopetition to study cooperative and competitive mechanisms in virtual customer communities and their effect on individual and community productivity. Learn how coopetition increases productivity and why it is important for the long-term survival of the community.

Value in Co-Created Content Production in Magazine Publishing: Case Study of Co-Creation in Three Scandinavian Magazine Brands

This talk taps into the evolving phenomenon of co-creation in publishing industry. Tanja Aitamurto (Stanford University) and Saara Könkkölä (Aalto University) identify the value emerging from content co-creation in three Scandinavian magazines in a shared content production process in which customers and editorial teams co-create a magazine. The study shares results of the business value of co-creation and its impact on reader-brand relationship,  increased revenue, more personalized products and other benefits.

The Relevance of Customer Co-Creation of Value for Service Companies: Does Co-Creation enhance Revenues and Satisfaction?

Ursula Grissemann and Nicola Stokburger-Sauer (Insbruck University) assess the effects of co-creation on customer satisfaction and service expenditures, highlight the effects of company support for the customer to co-create and analyze the consequences of customers’ satisfaction with their co-creation performance. They found that service expenditures increase the more customers are integrated into the service development process. Likewise, co-creation was found to positively affect customer satisfaction with the service company.

Listen to the full content of these talks at the MCPC 2011, Marriot SFO Airport, San Francisco, Nov 16-19, 2011:

- Conference Website and Registration (reducted rates until Sept 30)

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- All posts about the conference in my blog

#mcpc2011 Program Highlights: 130+ session presentations, 20+ keynotes, and great networking

We are now working full pace to finalize the program planning for the MCPC 2011 conference. I don't know whether it was our co-chair Henry Chesbrough, the cooperation of four top universities like UC Berkeley, MIT, RWTH Aachen, and HKUST, our theme "Bridging Mass Customization and Open Innovation" or just the location San Francisco, but we go a really huge feedback on our call for proposals.

Also, the current news about the Cafepress IPO and rumors on more MC companies hitting Wall Street are building the excitement about the conference.

After a more critical review process compared to the previous years (about 35% rejection rate) of our program committee, we are proud to present more than 130 presentations in the main program and more than 20 plenary talks, panels, and keynotes in the business seminar.

The full program will be published in structured form on the conference website soon, but I will feature in a series of blog posts in the coming weeks some of the great content that will be presented at the MCPC.

Here some facts on the event:

Nov 16-19, 2011 - San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel - mcpc2011.com

- Speakers from more than 25 different countries -- meet some of the top researchers in the field or the entrepreneurs that shape the field

- At least 45 sessions over the entire program, providing an in-depth view on many topics to build, implement, and run a mass customization program or to profit from open innovation and customer co-creation.

- Featured showcase sessions on special topics, bridging mass customization and open innovation

- Case Study Sessions - learn from direct experiences of entrepreneurs and managers DOING mass customization and open innovation

- Plenty of room to learn from latest research and studies

- Exhibition of technologies and enablers for mass customization and open innovation

- Networking receptions every evening, plus plenty of space to discuss during breaks and lunches

(Hint: If you are really curious, you already can get a sneak preview of many presentations in the parallel sessions here in the conference submission system. But this has a rather messy layout and no structure -- wait for a better version and also all plenary talks on the main conference site)

More info on the MCPC 2011:

- MCPC 2011 Business Seminar: Nov 16-17. Main Conference: Nov 17-19

- All info here in one compact MCPC flyer

- Conference Website and Registration (reduced rates until Sept 30)

- Conference hotel and travel (rooms fill quickly, book now!)

- More news about the conference in this blog

MCPC 2011 FAQ: Is the deadline for speaking submissions for the MCPC 2011 really April 7? Can I get an extension?

mcpc2011.com | Download Call for Papers | Submit your Proposal here

Here are a few questions I frequently get with regard to submissions of speaking and paper proposals for the MCPC2011. I hope this helps.

Is the deadline for speaking submissions for the MCPC 2011 really April 7? Can I get an extension?

Follow all steps of the submission process and read the updated call for papers first!

We will give you until May 7 to finalize your presentation by updating your submission files in the system or to create a new submission.

Do I also have to pay the registration fee as a presenter?

Yes, and even I as the conference chair will do so. The MCPC is a community event, and given the very broad opportunities to discuss your experience and research and get feedback, we only can run the conference if we follow this basic rule of academic conferences. So every speaker in the main conference (Nov 17-18) will have to register and pay for the "Innovation & research conference" (Note that the business seminar event is a seperate event, and you don't have to register for this.)

When will the final program be published?

Sometimes in late summer, but we hope to have a draft program ready in July/August.

Can I exhibit my company and our products at the event?

Yes, part of the sponsorship packages of the MCPC is the opportunity to book an exhibition table in the main conference area. This is a great way to show your support to the MCPC community and at the same time also to connect with potential new clients and customers. Look at the conference website for details.

What is the difference between the MCPC 2011 and the CYO2011 event you are hosting in Berlin?

The CYO 2011 – Create Your Own 2011 – is a networking event for European entrepreneurs and managers in mass customization. It shall connect people in Europe doing mass customization and allow them to build networks, exchange experiences, and learn about some recent projects in the area funded by the European Union. It will be a one day event in Berlin on May 31.

The scope and scale of the MCPC 2011 will be much larger, with many more presentations, and also a larger focus on in-depth research and technical advancements. It also will be much more international in participation.

At the MCPC we will have more managers from large global organizations; while at the CYO there will be more makers, designers, and European startups. In my opinion, both events are complementary and target to different audiences. So if you can, let's meet at the CYO and the MCPC.

Winning Logo of MCPC 2011 Crowdsourcing Competition – My Experiences with CrowdSPRING

Here is the new MCPC 2011 conference logo … to get it, we did what we preach and started a logo crowdsourcing competition at CrowdSPRING, one of the leading places in the internet to run design competitions.

I hope you like it … the logo will be used for the conference design and the final invitation brochures etc … I like the way how it connects the different backgrounds of our conference.

It was interesting to actually run such a contest. Here are my personal experiences with CrowdSPRING:

1. It is quite easy to launch a new project, even if you have never done this before and do not know anything about writing a briefing.
2. It is more expensive than often said. In some blogs or reports, crowdsourced graphic design competitions are said to be very cheap. Well, compared to hiring a design company for a new logo, CrowdSPRING is very affordable. But the average award is much higher today as it used to be in the past. As a non-profit conference and taking everything from my research budget, I decided to go low and just awarded $375 (The average contest is $1000 or more), On top, you pay about $150 transaction fees to the host (and expect to pay much higher fees if you want to have your contest promoted).
3. This is not much money, but for $500, you also will find many designers who will take such a job on a traditional contract base. But when you are new to the area and have not many great designers in your contact list, this is a great way to connect.
4. When you run a contest, reserve some time. Don't do it when you have a very full agenda. Participants expect instant feedback, and indeed your submissions get better when you give feedback just after every submission. I totally underestimated this.
5. You will not get better results when you keep the competition open longer than a week. Good entries only come in a few days before the closing deadline.
6. Get a few friends or colleagues involved helping you with the final voting. In the end, however, as usual, my wife made the decision for me :-).
7. The post-processing of the contest is very easy and well organized. Just a few clicks, and you have your files and the contract. This is where CrowdSPRING really provides value as a broker.

The winner of our contest was an experienced graphic designer who actually lives quite close to my German home, Raoul Camion. Raoul is a Belgium graphic designer who has specialized in logos projects. Without knowing, we selected a highly professional user: Raoul has participated in about 1000 projects at CrowdSPRING, and has won 87 of them. Sounds little, but is a lot given the large number of entries that are submitted for each contest.

So, we hope that you like the new MCPC 2011 logo!

MCPC 2011: Submission System Open: Submit your speaking proposal now!

The 2011 World Conference on Mass Customization, Personalization, and Co-Creation (MCPC 2011): San Francisco Airport Marriot Hotel & Conference Center, November 15-19, 2011 
mcpc2011.com | Download Call for Papers | Submit your Proposal here

The system to submit ypur papers and speaking proposals for the MCPC 2011 is online! The most important information follows below, but you also can download the updated MCPC 2011 Call for Papers here.

The MCPC 2011 wants to engage academics, business leaders, and consultants in fundamental debates through a set of plenary presentations, discussion panels, and paper presentations.

The 2011 conference will consist out of four major elements:

• The "Research and Innovation Conference" is an academic-style conference, with a broad call for papers. All contributions are peer reviewed by at least two reviewers. An international program committee and many ad-hoc reviewers support the program chairs with this process. Presentations are organized in parallel tracks, with plenty of time for discussions and feedback. The conference has the policy of "all participants, including presenters, have to pay the registration fee" that is characteristic for academic conferences.  This open call for papers & presentations relates to this part of the event!

• The "Business Seminar" provides an innovative platform for managers DOING mass customization and open innovation as the core of their business.

• Networking events: A sponsor's marketplace & exhibition, social events like networking lunches, conference dinners, and cocktail receptions.

• Pre-Conference Show: A press event and pop-up exhibition in a great offsite location.

How to submit your paper and presentation proposal

We invite you to submit your best work, addressing the conference theme along one or more of the questions asked in the detailed call for papers (PDF). We especially seek papers which follow the idea of "engaged scholarship", i.e. which are relevant to both practice and research.

You can submit three types of proposals (Page limits include references and figures):

1. Full papers: Max. 10 pages, according to the formatting guidelines (http://bit.ly/g8y1Tr). This is the preferred form of submissions.
2. Short papers / extended abstracts for work in progress (3-5 pages), but including comments on the research question, the methodology, data and empirical methods used (if applicable), and a discussion of the results. Please also use the formatting guidelines for preparing your extended abstract (http://bit.ly/g8y1Tr).
3. Presentation proposals (PPT slides) by managers: In order to accommodate practitioners who have interesting results but are not familiar with writing papers, this alternative way for contributing is offered. Mass customization business proprietors, open innovation project managers, services and technology providers are invited to submit a presentation outline in form of a slide presentation (PPT of max. 20 slides, transferred into PDF). 

Please check the detailed Call for Papers for more details on what we expect from a good proposal, how to format your paper, and how to submit it!

To submit a paper (practitioners: presentation proposal), head here. 

Important dates

April 7, 2011: Deadline for submissions for paper and presentation proposals (via this online submission system only)

June 15, 2011: Final notification of accepted contributions

Aug. 1, 2011: Presenter registration deadline

Nov 16-17, 2011: MCPC 2011 Business Seminar (optional registration required)

Nov 18-19, 2011: MCPC 2011 Research Conference and Presentation Sessions

More information

• Download full call for papers & presentation as PDF (with much more information!)

• Download MCPC 2011 Conference Briefing - An extended "About the Conference"

Crowdsourcing the MCPC 2011 Conference Logo

Well, why just writing about corwdsourcing when you also can use it for your own business? This is why we just launched an open logo design contest at CrowdSpring to get a new logo for the MCPC 2001 conference.

Head to the project page to submit your entry. At the time of writing this blog positing, only one design has been posted, but there is much more time until the deadline on Feb 22.

crowdSPRING, like similar sites like 99designs or Elance,  is an online marketplace that offers businesses (or private people -- I saw quite some requests for logos for special birthdays or family celebrations) to use an idea competition to get a custom logo, web, or graphic design. Seekers post a briefing on the requested outcome, watch how "the world" contributes ideas, and choose the concept they like most.For creatives, these sites often offer a a new platform for their talents where title and experience don't matter. However, there also  is quite some controversy. Still I believe that for many creatives, these sites also offer really new opportunity, and while I have met a few graphic designers that find this way of competition not sustainable and fair, others like this new opportunity.

I am very curious to see how this will turn out. You will see the outcome very soon at the new conference site.

And if you have the skills or a great idea, submit your MCPC 2011 logo design.

MCPC 2011: Call for Papers and Presentations - Bridging mass customization and open innovation

The 2011 World Conference on Mass Customization, Personalization, and Co-Creation (MCPC 2011): Bridging Mass Customization & Open Innovation

San Francisco Airport Marriot Hotel & Conference Center, November 15-19, 2011 
mcpc2011.com | twitter: #mcpc2011 | download Call for Papers

Finally, the MCPC 2011 is ready to go public: I am really excited about the next large MCPC conference, as we finally will bridge between the two topics that have been driving my research since many years: mass customization and open innovation. There are many common themes and topics between these two domains. In a separate posting, I have provided an overview about the connections between mass customization and open innovation.

For this endeavor, we could win the best possible conference co-chair representing this topic: Prof. Henry Chesbrough from the Center for Open Innovation, Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. I believe Henry needs no introduction at all to anyone reading this blog. But head to his blog and web site for recent information about his work.

The second local 2011 co-chair will be Solomon Darwin, Associate Director at the Center for Open Innovation, University of California Berkeley. Solomon already was of great help in finding the venue and setting many details of the conference!

But the most important ingredient of the conference is YOU! We need YOUR best ideas, papers, and presentations to create an exciting and truly innovative program. And so I am happy to present today and here for the first time the upcoming Call for Papers & Presentations for the MCPC 2011.

The most important information follows below, but you also can download the MCPC 2011 Call for Papers in pdf form.

The MCPC Conference Series

As you may know, the MCPC conference series started out in Hong Kong in 2001 as a bi-annual conference devoted to Mass Customization & Personalization. The content has broadened in recent years, including also customer co-creation, user innovation and other strategies of customer-driven value creation (hence, MCPC = Mass Customization, Personalization, and Co-Creation"). The event frequently brings together hundreds of the world's most remarkable people in the field.

For reports and reviews of the previous conferences, check here (MCPC 2007 at MIT) and here (MCPC 2009 in Helsinki).

The MCPC 2011

The MCPC 2011 wants to engage academics, business leaders, and consultants in fundamental debates through a set of plenary presentations, discussion panels, and paper presentations. The conference will take place on Nov. 15-19, 2011 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.  Located in Burlingame, CA, just minutes from the San Francisco International Airport and between downtown San Francisco and the Silicon Valley, the hotel offers a perfect location with great views of the San Francisco Bay. Its inviting waterfront location and great conference center will provide an inspiring conference setting.

The 2011 conference will consist out of four major elements:

• The "Research and Innovation Conference" is an academic-style conference, with a broad call for papers. All contributions are peer reviewed by at least two reviewers. An international program committee and many ad-hoc reviewers support the program chairs with this process. Presentations are organized in parallel tracks, with plenty of time for discussions and feedback. The conference has the policy of "all participants, including presenters, have to pay the registration fee" that is characteristic for academic conferences.  The open call for papers & presentations relates to this part of the event!

• The "Business Seminar" provides an innovative platform for managers DOING mass customization and open innovation as the core of their business. The seminar's foremost idea is to connect managers in peer-to-peer interaction to foster an intense discussion, facilitated by presentations from industry leaders and the seminar faculty. In 2011, the Business Seminar will kick-off the entire conference event. Presentation at this seminar is by invitation only.

• Networking events: A sponsor's marketplace & exhibition, social events like networking lunches, conference dinners, and cocktail receptions, but also site visits to local companies provide unique opportunities to connect and exchange ideas among participants. The event has a long track-record of successful business relationships and even a number of start-up companies that has been launched thanks to new connections during participants of the conference.

• Pre-Conference Show: The first day of the conference, Nov. 15, will be used to host a public event in a central location in Palo Alto or san Francisco to showcasre to a wide public that customization and co-creation are new future trend but a broad reality. A press event and exhibition will be part of this pop-up sho of MC excellence.

How to submit your paper and presentation proposal

We invite you to submit your best work, addressing the conference theme along one or more of the questions asked in the detailed call for papers (PDF). We especially seek papers which follow the idea of "engaged scholarship", i.e. which are relevant to both practice and research.

You can submit three types of proposals (Page limits include references and figures):

1. Full papers: Max. 10 pages, according to the formatting guidelines (http://bit.ly/g8y1Tr). This is the preferred form of submissions.
2. Short papers / extended abstracts for work in progress (3-5 pages), but including comments on the research question, the methodology, data and empirical methods used (if applicable), and a discussion of the results. Please also use the formatting guidelines for preparing your extended abstract (http://bit.ly/g8y1Tr).
3. Presentation proposals (PPT slides) by managers: In order to accommodate practitioners who have interesting results but are not familiar with writing papers, this alternative way for contributing is offered. Mass customization business proprietors, open innovation project managers, services and technology providers are invited to submit a presentation outline in form of a slide presentation (PPT of max. 20 slides, transferred into PDF). 

Please check the detailed Call for Papers for more details on what we expect from a good proposal, how to format your paper, and how to submit it!

To submit a paper (practitioners: presentation proposal), head here. 

Important dates

April 7, 2011: Deadline for submissions for paper and presentation proposals (via this online submission system only)

June 15, 2011: Final notification of accepted contributions

Aug. 1, 2011: Presenter registration deadline

Nov 16-17, 2011: MCPC 2011 Business Seminar (optional registration required)

Nov 18-19, 2011: MCPC 2011 Research Conference and Presentation Sessions

More information

• Download full call for papers & presentation as PDF (with much more information!)

• Download MCPC 2011 Conference Briefing - An extended "About the Conference"

MCPC 2011: The connections between mass customization and open innovation

The 2011 World Conference on Mass Customization, Personalization, and Co-Creation (MCPC 2011): Bridging Mass Customization & Open Innovation

This blog has been titled since many years "MC&OI News" – the most creative name I could imagine to denote my two interests I am writing about here: mass customization (core topic, about 70% of all posts) and open innovation.

However, in the past, these two topics were standing next to each other, with very few posts connecting the two. But I always believed that there are strong overlaps and complementarities between both topics.

And now there even will be a conference to explore these connections: the MCPC 2011 (Nov 15-19, 2011) in San Francisco!

Mass customization, personalization, and co-creation (MCPC) strategies aim to profit from the fact that people are different. Their objective is to turn customer heterogeneities into profit opportunities, hence addressing the current trend of long tail business models. Mass customization means to provide goods and services that best serve individual customers’ personal needs with near mass production efficiency. 

Open innovation is the idea that companies should make greater use of external ideas and technologies in their own business, and allow unused internal ideas to flow out to others for use in their business. It is the antithesis of a closed innovation process which relies on internal R&D and deep vertical integration (source).

While developed separately and founded in different theoretical and conceptual backgrounds, mass customization and open innovation are closely linked and can benefit from a broader exchange between both schools of thought:

Open innovation and mass customization are both paradigms that motivate people to participate, to create, to learn, and to recover in order to effectively provide innovative goods and services for satisfying heterogeneous customer needs. 

Mass customization can profit from new forms of open process innovation. Implementing mass customization demands new processes and services – new capabilities that are not into place in most organizations. The principles of open innovation provide efficient access to this knowledge and can support the implementation of MCPC business models.

Similarly, open innovation can benefit from mass customization thinking. Using approaches like modular architectures, process re-configuration, solution space design, or choice navigation, open innovation initiatives may become more scalable and efficient while still fitting perfectly to the innovator's situation.

Open innovation and mass customization thinking are merging into innovative business models. Consider the success of MC platforms like Zazzle, Spreadshirt, or Cafepress. These companies have established open business models that enable anyone to co-create their own business, share designs and developments for a fee, and benefits from the experiences of others. The frameworks and theories of open innovation provide new opportunities to study these phenomena.

Open or permissive intellectual property policies are often at the heart of new business models.  How do organizations share what they can, protect what they must, and stimulate the widest participation possible in their communities?  What can Creative Commons licenses and similar approaches contribute to mass customization and open innovation?

Open hardware is enabling new dimensions of customization. Hardware products (electronics components, but also entire structures like automobiles or even rockets) are increasingly created in community-based models of contributors. IP is distributed via open licenses. One of the core motives of open hardware is to allow high degrees of customization – to offer the next level of customization!

Many mass customization businesses are user innovations. A core principle of open innovation is user innovation. Many innovative products or services originate in the customers' domain – including many mass customization offerings that are the result of an innovating customer becoming an entrepreneur. Looking closer on the origins of mass customization businesses will provide a fascinating area for research on user entrepreneurs and open innovation in start-ups.

In addition, methods for open innovation like co-creation toolkits or idea contests strive to facilitate the input from customers for a firm's innovation process. These tools are closely related to the design of configuration and co-design toolkits. Connecting research in both areas may offer opportunities for better toolkit design.

Mass customization is a service business. Much of the academic research in the field, especially in marketing and configuration experience design, is rooted in the service marketing domain.  Here we see plenty of opportunities to bridge between open service innovation and mass customization. We also need to explore how to scale up mass customization in cases where economies of scale are powerful.  How do companies like Amazon deliver customization and scale at the same time?

At the same time the MCPC conference is designed as a platform for open (process and business model) innovation: Our objective is to assemble a diverse and experienced audience with different backgrounds to share learnings and what worked (and what did not) in different settings, industries, and countries. We want to stimulate new ideas and to invoke new aspiration for entrepreneurial drive and technical advances.

If you find these conncetions as exciting as I, have a look at the call for papers & presentations for the MCPC 2011 and consider to submit your proposal!! The PDF of the Call for Papers also has many more questions exploring the themes of the conference!