Mass customisation of wood furniture as a competitive strategy. (18th February 2008)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lihra, Torsten; Buehlmann, Urs; Beauregard, Robert
• Is Part Of: International journal of mass customisation. Volume 2:Number 3/4(2008)
• Page Start: 200
• Page End: 215
• Publication Date: 2008-02-18
• Subjects: mass customisation -- wood furniture -- business models -- furniture manufacturer survey -- market globalisation -- industrial engineering -- lean manufacturing -- United States -- USA -- competitive strategy -- domestic furniture -- imports -- offshore competition; Mass customization -- Periodicals; Manufacturing processes -- Automation -- Periodicals; Manufactures -- Technological innovations -- Periodicals; Computer integrated manufacturing systems -- Periodicals; 670.42705
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-4208

Abstract

The existence of some segments of the US furniture industry is threatened by imports from offshore countries. Mass Customisation (MC) is discussed as a competitive strategy for US furniture manufacturers to offset their intrinsic production cost disadvantage. Examples from four domestic furniture industry subsectors are used to propose a possible correlation between the level of product customisation (MC) offered and their success in the market. The US kitchen cabinet industry was found to offer the highest level of MC of all subsectors analysed. Interestingly, at the present time, the kitchen cabinet industry is not heavily affected by offshore imports. The wood household furniture industry, on the other hand, was ranked last in regard to MC and was also the one most heavily affected by offshore imported furniture. The study indicates that MC can be used as a successful business strategy for domestic producers competing with low-cost offshore manufacturers.