Mass customization is becoming a competitive strategy for companies offering individualized products. Product configurators provide a platform for companies to do interactive product configuration which is essential for mass customization. Companies need to realize the degree of customization appreciated by the customers and the extent of customization that can be offered competitively. This research is an effort to develop an approach to ascertain the product configurator requirements to achieve mass customization. The frameworks developed for this research are validated with a case study.

The aim of this thesis is to present a new methodology to evaluate and optimize sustainability of customizable product-service systems while ensuring economic, environmental and societal constraints are also satisfied. Activities across the total product lifecycle are considered to develop a model that evaluates closed-loop flow, while being monitored through the growth, maturity and decline stages of the product to provide a comprehensive analysis. A novel method to evaluate the customer satisfaction is also presented. The research considers a modular product where customization can be achieved by selecting from alternatives while ensuring the compatibility between these alternatives. A manufacturer will be able to use the tool developed to optimize the business models developed by maximizing their profitability, satisfying regulatory and customer requirements, and evaluating the metrics that determine the sustainability of the product. The tool primarily uses a Microsoft Excel based platform for calculation and analysis while using ILOG OPL software for optimization. The sensitivity analysis provides examples of the variety of information that can be generated through the model according to the interests of the user. The results demonstrate the usefulness of the tool as a ‘sustainable product configurator’ which can be integrated with conventional product configurators after further refinement.

The aim of the thesis is to identify which functions may be included in product configurators in order to create a good experience for a user. The findings are compiled into a set of guidelines outlining how the user experience is affected by functions, which functions are either necessary- or supporting functions, and how these functions may be realized to create a good user experience. The thesis is conducted by firstly studying literature about both UX-theory and product configurators. Subsequently, a state of the art study is performed by investigating how ten different product configurators on the market fulfill specific functions. A benchmarking study is performed with users. This study is conducted in two different instances, one with an existing product configurator, and one with a hi-fi prototype of the same configurator updated according to the developed guidelines. In between these two instances an iterative user study is carried out to co-design configurators with users. The established guidelines are the following: The configurator should be accommodated to different levels of creative confidence for customizing a product, The configurator should let the user express themselves when customizing a product, The configurator should allow the user to fulfil their goal of customizing a product, The configurator should show the user how to fulfil their goal of customizing a product.

Die Orientierung am Kunden und dessen individuellen Wünschen ist heutzutage von großer Bedeutung. Mit Hilfe eines Produktkonfigurationssystems ist es möglich, Produkte nach bestimmten Regeln aus bestimmten Bauteilen virtuell zu entwickeln [1] und somit die gewünschten Leistungsmerkmale der Kunden auf ihre Durchführbarkeit hin zu überprüfen. In der vorliegenden Marktuntersuchung wurden die Leistungsfähigkeit von Konfiguratoren sowohl in ERP-/PPS-Systemen als auch als Stand-alone-Lösung untersucht und darauf überprüft, inwiefern sie zur Bewältigung komplexer und variantenreicher Produktgestaltungsaufgaben geeignet sind. / Market research : configurators in ERP-/PPS-Systems: <br><br> Today customer orientation is of great importance. With the help of a product-configuration-system it is possible to develop products virtually under specific rules and therefore to prove the customer capability characteristics for their practicability. In the present market research the capability of configurators in ERP-/PPS-systems as well as in stand-alone-solutions were checked and it was tested to what extend they are suitable to cope with complex product implementation.<br> -------<br> © GITO mbH Berlin