The role of manufacturing efficiency in the achievement of sustainable mass customization 4.0

Abstract

One of the goals of the Industry 4.0 paradigm is the sustainable success within a mass customization environment, which in turn, depends on the manufacturing efficiency of the transformation processes. In this paper we propose to represent manufacturing efficiency within the context demand fulfillment. The main original contribution of this paper are two demand fulfillment analytical expressions. Their novelty is on the way they are expressed, that is, in terms of the structural elements that define a mass customization environment. Their usefulness was put to the test via a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model of two different demand fulfillment strategies (namely inventory-oriented level and capacity-oriented chase strategies). The obtained results suggest that the analytical expressions act as a fairly good trend indicator of the missed demand values increase/decrease. A discussion of the managerial implications of these findings are presented at the end of this document.