Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Industrial and Managements Systems Engineering

Committee Chair

Thorsten Wuest

Committee Member

Kenneth Currie

Committee Member

Khaled Medini

Abstract

Today’s manufacturers are striving towards a more sustainable and customized product offering in their value chain to satisfy customer demand and compete on the marketplace. By adopting sustainability practices, companies are not only complying with environmental regulations but are strategically addressing the triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability (environmental, social, and economic). Similarly, mass customization allows a company to better satisfy their customers by creating individualized products economically. Moving forward, it is important to better understand the relationship of these two competitive strategies. In order to assess the sustainability performance of mass customization, it is important to understand the appropriate key performance indicators. The following two research questions emerged: 1) Can we define a generalized set of KPIs for the regular manufacturing industry? and 2) How are these KPIs related to manufacturers offering mass customization? The objective of the thesis is to develop a general model of sustainability KPIs for manufacturer’s offering mass customization.

The research methodology included a systematic literature review of TBL KPIs resulting in a database of over 300 KPIs that were clustered around strategic goals. Following, the relationships of the KPIs in the mass customization and mass production industry were analyzed. To identify the KPIs of mass customization, the recent sustainability reports of three major companies (Nike, Dell, Danfoss) were analyzed. The comparison of identified KPIs from mass production and mass customizations and the findings indicate a mix of positive and negative impacts of mass customized product offerings on the TBL sustainability KPIs. A limitation of the analysis is the use of secondary data. The results can help traditional manufacturing companies to understand the opportunities of integrating sustainability and mass customization in their supply chain to create value for customers.

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