Mass Customization and Footwear: Myth, Salvation or Reality?

Mass customization is an emerging paradigm gathering growing interest in many industrial fields. The EUROShoE project (financed by the EC) explored the applicability of and developed technologies for the adoption of such a paradigm in the footwear business. The research showed the benefits for shoe companies of switching to the new business models and heled develop many of the enabling technologies that adopting the new paradigm appears to have. This is the only book dedicated to the application of mass customization in a particular industry. Based on the EUROShoE project, it is a detailed analysis of the most relevant case studies of early mass customizers in the footwear sector, highlighting reasons for their failure or success. Both the technological aspects and the business aspects of mass customization, together with some relevant economic indicators are discussed. This book will interest both practitioners in the footwear sector, and postgraduates, researchers and lecturers in mass customization.