Embracing the New Paradigm of Personalized Manufacturing








 
S. Jack Hu, a speaker at the marcus evans Manufacturing COO Summit 2011, on personalized manufacturing.

Interview with: S. Jack Hu, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial and Operations Engineering, G. Lawton and Louise G. Johnson Professor of Engineering and University Co-Director, General Motors Collaborative Research Laboratory on Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing, University of Michigan


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


The paradigm of manufacturing is shifting towards personalization, says S. Jack Hu, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial and Operations Engineering, G. Lawton and Louise G. Johnson Professor of Engineering and University Co-Director, General Motors Collaborative Research Laboratory on Advanced Vehicle Manufacturing, University of Michigan.


A speaker at the upcoming marcus evans Manufacturing COO Summit 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada, September 26-28, Hu highlights the key challenges and opportunities of personalized manufacturing.


In your opinion, what is the new paradigm of manufacturing?


S. Jack Hu: The paradigm for manufacturing is changing. Mass production has been the most prevalent paradigm since the 50s and mass customization since the 80s. This will gradually shift towards personalization, where people will be able to tailor products to their individual needs.


Personalized production is emerging as the new paradigm in manufacturing. 


How should manufacturing directors prepare for this?


S. Jack Hu: Consumer product manufacturers have to embrace this paradigm. They need to design products where certain modules or components can be designed by the consumers themselves.


An open and flexible architecture in the product assembly is very important.  In addition, the manufacturing system has to be flexible and responsive to allow for consumer input. 


What opportunities does this present to manufacturers?


S. Jack Hu: Personalizing products results in better market penetration, and the ability to satisfy a much broader range of consumers. This will increase the marketing opportunities for certain products and product families.


That is the biggest potential right now, but this comes with the challenges of setting up a modular product architecture and a flexible manufacturing system.


How can costs be minimized in personalized manufacturing?


S. Jack Hu: There are various principles of manufacturing that can be practiced. With Delayed Differentiation, for example, common components and assemblies are done first, and product variations added as late as possible. Product architecting is very important, what modules are designed by the manufacturer, what modules are given to the consumers to design, etc.


Such practices and many of the manufacturing concepts and principles, such as Six Sigma and LEAN, continue to be valid.


Continuous improvement, minimization of variation and reduction of waste remain good guiding principles.


What do Manufacturing COOs overlook in your experience?


S. Jack Hu: High product variety can introduce problems in manufacturing. When many variants have to be assembled or made on the same production line, the level of complexity increases and the management of variety becomes very important.


The complexity induced by product variety can be mitigated through proper product family design or assembly line design.


What is your outlook for the future?


S. Jack Hu: Manufacturing will always exist. The question is, who will make what? With this personalization paradigm, a lot of the manufacturing assembly can be done locally because responsiveness and personalization are best be supported by distributing locally manufactured products.


Every company has something to make. US manufacturers should embrace this opportunity.


If you were to give one piece of advice, what would that be?


S. Jack Hu: Continuous improvement in quality and throughput. Never end the pursuit of reducing quality variability, throughput variation and improving flexibility and reliability. 



Contact: Sarin Kouyoumdjian-Gurunlian, Press Manager, marcus evans, Summits Division


Tel: + 357 22 849 313
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com



About the Manufacturing COO Summit 2011


This unique forum will take place at the Red Rock Casino Resort Spa, Las Vegas, Nevada, September 26-28, 2011. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The Summit includes presentations on implementing LEAN best practices, green manufacturing and flexible production systems.


For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website


marcus evans group – manufacturing sector portal


Please note that the summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.


About marcus evans Summits


marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com 


Follow us on Twitter @meSummitsGlobal




All rights reserved. The above content may be republished or reproduced – kindly inform us by sending an email to press@marcusevanscy.com