Product information management for mass customization: the case of kitting

With millions of possible final product configurations offered to customers, MarelliMotori is undoubtedly a customizer in the induction motor manufacturing sector. MarelliMotori has always leveraged the completeness of its product range and the possibility of product customization offered to its customers to differentiate itself from competitors. However, over the last few years MarelliMotori’s differentiation strategy has been challenged by the increasing pressure placed on costs and delivery times by the entry of low cost manufacturers, mostly located in the Far East, and by the proliferation of highly responsive small companies operating on a regional scale in Italy and other European countries that assemble motors from imported components or just market imported motors under their own brand. As a result, combining product customization with rapid deliveries and acceptable prices has become a must for MarelliMotori. In its effort to become a mass customizer, MarelliMotori considered changing both the product configuration process and the materials flow. The case illustrates how and why kitting has enabled both the implementation of a software-based product configuration system and the postponement of product differentiation along the material flow. By changing the way products are represented within the company’s information system, kitting allowed for minimizing the initial investment needed to develop the product model required by the configuration system. By changing the way kit components are managed and added to the product, kitting allowed for delaying product differentiation along the manufacturing process. Ultimately, by enabling the implementation of a software-based product configuration system and the postponement of product differentiation kitting has played a key role in enhancing MarelliMotori’s mass customization capability.