Defining Product Customization as Form Postponement

要約

Form postponement is one of the theoretical frameworks used in recent years to explain the development of supply chain management through product customization in various industries, along with the creation of competitive advantage based on it. This study seeks to apply a modified version of Bucklin’s postponement-speculation model to the phenomenon of customization, defining customization as a form of postponement. This model demonstrates that production costs and uncertainty costs determine the optimal degree to which the manufacturing process can be postponed, measured by the two criteria of: i) product ratios and ii) process ratios in relation to customization. In referring to this model, this paper also acknowledges that recent developments in information technology have done a great deal to facilitate customization.