Mass Customization and Sustainability

Is it more sustainable to produce and consume customized goods manufactured by a flexible factory than traditional mass-produced goods? This discussion (extremely relevant today) has been approached by many scholars from different fields. Engineering, management, marketing, consumer studies, are some of the backgrounds of researchers approaching this question. See this literature list for a preliminary overview:

Bettoni, a et al., 2013. Integrated product and supply chain design: bridging the gap towards networked environment for effective implementation of a sustainable mass customized solution. International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, 5(2), pp.65–78. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,shib&db=awn&AN=ijest-86050&site=ehost-live\nhttp://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijest/article/view/86050.

Boër, C.R. et al., 2013. Mass Customization and Sustainability, Available at: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-4471-5116-6.

Brunø, T.D. et al., 2013. Sustainability Evaluation of Mass Customization. In APMS. pp. 175–182.

Chin, A.R. & Smithwick, D., 2009. Environmental Impacts of Utilizing Mass Customization : Energy and Material Use of Mass Customization vs . Mass Production. Mcpc 2009, pp.1–24.

Jovane, F. et al., 2008. The incoming global technological and industrial revolution towards competitive sustainable manufacturing. CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology, 57, pp.641–659.

Medini, K. et al., 2015. Investigating mass customization and sustainability compatibilities. International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, 7(1), pp.11–20.

Osorio, J. et al., 2001. Design for Sustainable Mass-Customization : Design Guidelines for Sustainable Mass-Customized Products. In 20th ICE Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation.