Mass Customization – Case Studies from Apparel Industry

Apparel Industry Management 3(3+0)

Lesson 43 : Mass Customization

Mass Customization – Case Studies from Apparel Industry

Bodymetrics
Bodymetrics is a UK based organization that deals in made-to-measure jeans. There is a 3-D scanner which takes about 200 measurements in 5 seconds. The measurements are used to create a virtual replica of the body from which a digital pattern for the jeans is created.

Clothes are made in the Far East or North America. Prices start around £250, or $482, per pair of jeans. They don’t carry any stock, are never on sale, and receive cash upfront before manufacturing. They have very high sales per square foot – about $2000.

DNA STYLE LAB
They sell customized T-shirts. In this model, the company commissions a number of artists from around the world. They contribute design elements which a customer can select. The more graphic elements a user selects, the more expensive the final product gets.

In this model, the artists will get their full price, the user pay for the graphic elements they select ( about $5), the company itself makes its profit from selling the core product which is about $10.

Ziami
Ziami is a German company, who make custom made shirts for about 29 Euro and custom-made suits for about 99-Euro. They use multi-level marketing approach in their model, in which whosoever purchases a 50
Euro starter package, becomes a custom shirt seller. The distributors purchase a custom shirt for 22 Euro
and sell it for 29 Euros. Manufacturing is done in China and Thailand. The major complaints are unstable quality, bad customer service and poor fabrics.

I-Fashion Project, Korea
It combines a consortium of 9 apparel companies and a few technology providers.

The entire process builds on virtual models, which are generated by a 3D body scan of a consumer. The customer can then create on a touch-screen kiosk her new apparel, including the design of the fabric. Designs are illustrated real-time on the customer's avatar.

Zafu.com
It asks women shoppers 11 questions about how they prefer jeans to sit on their hips or waist to create a body profile. The results are used to match the user with as many jeans as could suit them from a database of hundreds of styles, from broadly marketed Gap to pricey Seven, then link them to a retailer to purchase.

Zafu also allows women to save their profile making the process even easier next time they return. This helps them also to inform customers when a new jean is added to their assortment that exactly fits their body style. However, if a user does not want to leave any data, she does not have to do register etc. Zafu.com is profitable because first, Zafu does not carry any inventory, but directs customers directly to the web sites of affiliated retailers and gets the usual commissions between 5-20% of each sale. Second, they will provide in- house fit recommendation services to online and offline retailers, helping the customers of just one brand to navigate the assortment in a store or online shop better.

Adidas
Mi-Adidas store can customize fit (length and width), performance (insole, outsole, upper, and cushioning material; stud distribution etc.) and design (color and custom embroidery) features. In this a consumer jogs on a computerized catwalk. Sensors embedded in the track can record the exact pressure of his footfall and gauge his running posture. This data is used to measure perfect fit. He then chooses the looks of his shoes by choosing a massive interactive cube at the front of the store. And using a three dimensional virtual mirror, he can ‘try-on’ his own creation, checking out the shape, color and cut from every angle. A custom pair of shoes carries a $40-65 premium and Adidas promises delivery within 21 days in the US.

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Last modified: Tuesday, 29 May 2012, 10:38 AM