To succeed in mass customisation, firms must change more than just the order in which things are assembled.

ECONOMIST: All yours | The

There is a danger that mass customisation becomes so popular that it detracts customers from more profitable sales.

ECONOMIST: Idea

But Dell also shows that when you get mass customisation to work, some remarkable things start to happen.

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Speed and good communications are thus essential if mass customisation is to work.

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Mass production could, in short, give way to mass customisation for all kinds of products, from shoes to spectacles to kitchenware.

ECONOMIST: How a new manufacturing technology will change the world

Some firms are developing the link between one-to-one marketing and mass customisation.

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The internet has greatly increased the possibilities for mass customisation.

ECONOMIST: Idea

Mass customisation is the next step.

ECONOMIST: Direct hit

The ability to share data about customers, and to take an aggregated mass-customisation approach, is growing fast, though constrained by the need to reassure consumers over privacy.

ECONOMIST: Death by 1,000 clicks