This thesis concentrates on different production planning solutions for mass customised fashion with regard to machine setups. The purpose of this research is to reveal the significant aspects and challenges for SMEs that have to be considered when production steps need to be aligned to the mass customisation principle. Therefore a theoretical framework will approach the subject of production planning, as well as mass customisation. In addition, a case study will assure scientific support by developing and examining production planning solutions. The different levels of production set-ups induce the technological facilities that are indispensable for an integration of mass customisation. Finally it will be analysed and discussed whether it is feasible for an SME to invest in such a business strategy. Especially in a SME the boundaries between pure tailor- made customisation and pure mass customisation are often blurred, wherefore the findings should contribute to a clarification. Since mass customisation is a future- oriented concept, this paper is of definite interest to small companies, which intend to successfully achieve mass customisation. / Program: Master programme in Applied Textile Management

Hajj is very important to all Muslims across the globe. Because of its religious significance, the Hajj pilgrimage experiences a massive number of visitors each year, most of whom are foreign and require consumer goods during the six-day pilgrimage. The large number of pilgrims often results in a sharp increase in demand for consumer goods. Suppliers must ensure that they have adequate amounts of these products so that they can meet the needs of the pilgrims as well as their different tastes for these goods. It is however usually difficult to determine exactly how much is required. This complexity creates demand uncertainty that the firms in the industry must be able to cope with for them to succeed. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (commonly referred to as SMEs) play an important role in the food chain throughout the Hajj season in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). However, SMEs are recognised to experience severe obstacles that have the potential to threaten their continuity, and the industry succumbs to the crisis of demand uncertainty throughout the short period of the peak season of Hajj each year. This problem is complex due to the constant increase in the number of pilgrims and the continuous changes in their needs and preferences. Demand uncertainty can ultimately result in an increase in production costs, long lead times, substandard service levels, and quality problems, especially in terms of food obsolescence. There is a gap in the literature regarding aligning sources of uncertainty with supply chain strategies in an effort to improve supply chain performance. More specifically, the impact of supply chain integration strategies (SCI) on manufacturing strategies, such as postponement practice (PP) and mass customisation capability (MCC) to mitigate demand uncertainty (DUM), has not been fully explored. This study investigates three fundamental issues: 1 - how effective supply chain integration (internal integration and external integration) can be applied in Saudi’s SMEs food industry, and how the interaction between them mutually manipulates the improvement of postponement practice and mass customisation capability in food productions in Hajj; 2 - how the volume of cooperation leads to the mitigation of demand uncertainty in maintaining the survival of small and medium enterprises that operate in food production in Hajj; and 3 - how the environmental condition (i.e. competitive intensity) moderates the influence of supply chain integration (SCI) on this interaction in Saudi’s food SMEs that operate in Hajj. iii Based on the extended resource-based view (ERBV) of the firm, the strategic resources and knowledge come not only from within the organisation’s boundaries, but also from outside. Thus, a firm’s overall strategic capability may be embedded in a wider network of inter-firm exchange relationship. Contingency theory furthermore argues that an organisation should align their practices, processes and strategies with their business environment. In consideration to the extant literature, a number of hypotheses were defined, demonstrating the correlation between supply chain integration, postponement practice, mass customisation capability and demand uncertainty mitigation. Subsequently, a conceptual framework was developed with the objective to verify the relationship amongst the constructs. Mixed methodologies were employed; qualitatively, with 12 CEOs working in different SMEs in the food industry across KSA were initially interviewed to validate the conceptual framework. Content and face validity was accomplished with a group of academics and experts. A pilot study was carried out on a sample of 50 subcontractors, Hajj campaigns, pilgrimage institutions and food suppliers. Consequently, an online survey was conducted amongst SMEs to test the hypotheses. As a result, 239 responses were received from the SMEs in the food sector in the KSA. Partial Least Square (PLS) was used for the analysis. The interviewees were identified through snowball sampling (Detailed in the next sections). Quantitative data were collected using the convenience sampling technique, given the non-availability of the sampling frame. Based upon the extended resource-based view (ERBV) of the firm, alongside contingency theory, the initial and final results of the pilot test and survey were seen to be steady with these theories, where supply chain integration was viewed not only as having a significant direct and indirect effect on the postponement practice and mass customisation capability by SMEs of food during Hajj, but also as playing a critical role throughout the employment of postponement practice as an important strategy, empowering mass customisation capability to mitigate demand uncertainty. Likewise, both results were seen to be consistent with contingency theory; that is, a firm should coordinate their supply chain integration activities, postponement practice and mass customisation capability to their business environment, particularly with high competitive intensity to enhance demand uncertainty mitigation. In order to achieve competitive intensity, organisations are mainly focused on emerging markets and expanding their product lines. In the event that organisations begin targeting similar set opportunities, they risk bringing upcompetitive intensity for themselves, which increases the cost of growth. The cost of business will be noticeable when considering marketing speed, media inflation, the rate of innovation and trade spend in marketing, all of which are indicators of completion intensity. Improvements in supply chain efficiency, optimising strategies in marketing and extracting the best of return on investments from promotions by organisations also indicates competition intensity. Costs, competition and the ability to differentiate are some of the main determining factors of competition. Importantly, these are all tied up within uncertainty mitigation. However, despite the fact that internal integration has a positive direct and indirect effect on the postponement practice, mass customisation capability is created by SMEs of food industry, in addition to its direct effect upon both supplier integration and customer integration. Customer integration has also been found to improve postponement practice as well as mass customisation capability in a direct fashion. Supplier integration has a significant impact on postponement practice; however, it seems not significantly associated positively with mass customisation capability. Moreover, postponement practice also has an effect in mitigating demand uncertainty, both directly and indirectly, through mass customisation capability. Finally, mass customisation capability similarly has been found to enhance demand uncertainty mitigation. Research indicates that the direct and indirect effects of all constructs increase when there is intense competition in Hajj.

Textilhögskolan i Borås startade projektet Knit On Demand i syftet att undersöka och utvärdera complete garment teknologin. Idén bygger på konceptet masskundanpassning inom området stickning. Huvudaktörerna i Knit On Demand projektet är Textilhögskolan i Borås, återförsäljaren SOM Concept i Stockholm samt Ivanhoe, tillverkare av stickade kläder. Målet med detta arbete är att identifiera och beskriva alla processteg, från den tidpunkt då kunden kliver in i butiken i Stockholm tills det färdiga plagget leverats. Vårt arbete går även ut på att hitta och beskriva förbättringsmöjligheter samt tillhörande kostnads kalkyleringar. För att frambringa relevant data utför och presenterar vi en simulering av hela processen. Metoden som har använts i arbetet bygger på observerade fallstudier från både SOM Concept och Ivanhoe. Den metod vi använder oss av är baserad på kvantitativ data och kvalitativa intervjuer med personer involverade i projektet. Hela processen beskrivs med hjälp av ett nutida och framtida flödesschema. I det nutida flödesschemat är den totala värdehöjande tiden för ett producerat plagg 129 minuter. Förslaget i ett framtida flödesschema visar att processen kan förbättras, bli mer effektiv och påvisar även hur stora förändringarna skulle bli med en snabbare garnleverantör. För att förbättringarna för Knit On Demand ska gå att genomföras måste ordervolymen ökas från 1 plagg till minst 5 plagg per vecka. Förbättringsförslagen är; nya och snabbare garnleverantörer, ny layout plan för Knit On Demand processen hos Ivanhoe, snabbare produktionstid, installation av ett datasystem som hanterar lagerhållning, bättre kommunikation mellan SOM Concept och Ivanhoe samt förbättrad ställtid. / <p>Knit On Demand started as a project at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås with the aim of evaluating complete-garment-technology. It is a mass customization concept within knitting technology. The key players are SOM Concept store in Stockholm and Ivanhoe, a producer of knitted garments in Gällstad.The aim with this thesis is to identify and describe all processes in the concept from the moment when the client enters the store until the Knit On Demand garment is manufactured and delivered to the customer. The purpose is also to find and describe improvement opportunities as well as making an estimated cost calculation for them. To gather relevant data, a simulation of the whole process is performed. The method used is an action research case study of the Knit On Demand project based on quantitative data and qualitative interviews with key persons involved.The process is described with a Value Stream Map of the current state and the future “ideal” state. The current state shows that total value-added lead time for producing one garment is 129 minutes. The future or “ideal” state shows how the processes can be improved and be more efficient, it also shows the importance of improving supplier delivery times.To be able to improve the current Knit On Demand set-up, the order volume must increase from 1 to a minimum of 5 or more orders per week. The improvement suggestions are; new and better suppliers of yarn, new layout and improved down time, plan for the production, improved production time, inventory computer system, better communication between SOM Concept and Ivanhoe.</p><p>Program: Textilingenjörsutbildningen</p>

Background - Consumer individualisation is a growing challenge in the fashion industry, yet it is also an area of great potential as well as a way to dampen over-consumption. The potential lays in how fashion brands can find ways to steer consumption towards a circular economy and utilise their platform to create meaningful connections with its consumers. Today the fashion industry is looking at options to the traditional take-make-dispose model where non-renewable resources are used at an ever-increasing rate. The Swedish fashion retailer Monki together with Re:textile decided to investigate if servitization could turn the above mentioned linear model into a more sustainable, circular model. They set out to develop an in-store concept where customers could customise their garments instantaneously and this formed the basis of a project brief and a Business Model Canvas which both served as the foundation and starting point of the presented research.   Purpose - The purpose of the research is to develop and test a product extension service business model that utilises a direct to garment printer to mass customise jeans in-store. The said purpose is divided into three perspectives: the design-, service provider - and customer perspective , covering four cornerstones of the Business Model Canvas. The different perspectives with their separate, but related, research questions will be unified again in the conclusion.   Methodology - To fulfill the purpose, the thesis research is relying on abductive reasoning through systematic combining, while implementing a mixed methods approach. Systematic combining works well in extensive and diversified research where the researchers shift from one type of research activity to another in a quest to match empirical observations with theory, thus, the ultimate objective of systematic combining is matching theory with reality until both come close enough to form a functional outcome. Throughout the study, both qualitative and quantitative studies are conducted through action research, a customer case study as well as experimental research in order to fulfill the purpose of the thesis.   Findings and Discussion - The conclusions and recommendations that are presented in the form of an updated Business Model Canvas all derive from the research conducted incorporating the three perspectives that have guided the thesis through all of its stages namely the design, service provider and customer perspective. A product service extension business model is proposed as a solution to the project brief that serves as a foundation for the research. The results of the research all point to the conclusion that it is indeed possible to implement the product service extension successfully. Tests relating to the customer as well as the service provider perspective have proven themselves implementable due to low overall printing costs and fast print time enhancing the customer shopping experience. Together with an indication of product satisfaction as well as creating a strong customer-product connection through the co-design experience it contributes to a circular economy. Furthermore, the overall consistent printing costs, as well as the insignificant time differences in the experiments total time, support the implementation of a PSS in a retail setting.   Research Limitations - This research is confined to, and based on, the Monki and Re:textilebrief as well as a Business Model Canvas so therefore, no other ideas than the ones stated in the brief have been explored. The research´s inferences are limited to the given conditions as well as a laboratory setting. Further, the experimental research study will only test pocket shaped artwork on 100 percent cotton denim jeans using a Brother GTX 4 printer as a chosen direct to garment printer. The scope of the customer case study can be described as surveying as well as observing 40 of the visitors of the 2018 Fashion days and Exit at the Swedish School of Textiles while they test the proposed PSS in a mock-up retail store setting without an actual sales transaction.   Further Research - The next logical step would be to run the tests in a real-life retail store as opposed to the laboratory setting. After the proposed product service extension is implemented at scale POS data could be gathered in order to establish the customers’ true willingness to participate in the customisation experience in-store. Additionally, a longitudinal continuation of the study would give answers to some of the indications arising from the case study, such as whether the mass customisation could truly serve as a brand strengthening activity or lead to an extended garment lifecycle in reality.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore suitable end-of-life strategies for fashion retailers of custom-made products after they have been returned by the customer, by analysing and evaluating these strategies, and how to implement and conclude the viability of these. Method: The study follows an abductive explorative case study method. The exploratory design is structured as follows; a literature review is carried out, followed by interviews for collecting empirical data, which is analysed with the help of a conceptual framework. Thereafter, secondary data is collected to create an overview of the real-world context in the form of end-of-life strategies implemented by fashion retailers. Finally, the case was tested within a new proposed framework. Findings: The findings demonstrate the importance of the core values of the companies and inherent to that, the product characteristics and design in the decision-making of a suitable end-of-life strategy. For that reason, a second phase of data collection based on secondary data was implemented and juxtaposed the first finding from the interviews. The main insight this paper shows is that resell “as it is”, which is a common end-of-life strategy for regular fashion retailers, is a conflicting strategy for retailers of custom-made clothing. Introducing an adapted version of the Sustainable Value Analysis Tool as a conceptual framework gave a better insight in how to approach and analyse suitable end-of-life strategies and shows the relation between these parameters. Originality: It is difficult according to the findings of this study to conclude a generalisable, one-size-fits-all end-of-life strategy for returned custom-made products. However, the introduction of an adapted version of the Sustainable Value Analysis Tool can serve a purpose for all fashion retailers in this transformation process and which is not limited to fashion retailers of mass customised clothing.

Complete garment knitting technology is a method of producing knitted products, generally fashion garments, ready-made directly in the knitting machine without additional operations such as cutting and sewing. This makes it possible to manufacture a knitted fashion garment with fewer processes then with conventional production methods. In the fashion business customer demand is always changing due to fashion trends, so to be able to manufacture and deliver products rapidly is important. Mass customisation is a customer co-design process of products and services that tries to meets the needs of an individual customer’s demand for certain product features. In the fashion business this means that the customer can order a garment with a customised style, colour, size, and other personal preferences. The principal objective of this dissertation was to examine if and how complete garment technology can be applied to the customisation of knitted fashion products. It was pursued through several independent studies in knitting technology, mass customisation, and fashion logistics against a theoretical frame of reference in these areas. The papers in this thesis present various examples of how knitted fashion garments can be customised and integrated into fashion retailing concepts. The starting point of the research was the Knit-on-Demand research project conducted at the Swedish School of Textiles in collaboration with a knitting manufacturing and retailing company. The aim was to develop a shop concept built on the complete garment technology where a garment could be customised, produced, and delivered as quickly as possible. This initial idea failed due to the expense of investing in complete garment knitting technology, and so other avenues of research had to be found. The Knit-on-Demand project continued, using a business model similar to the complete garment concept but with the retail store and the production unit situated in different locations. The overall research question addressed in this thesis is: How can complete garment knitting technology be applied in a retail concept for customised garments? This question is then divided in two problems: What are the fashion logistics effects of combining complete garment technology and mass customisation? How does the co-design process function in the customisation of knitted fashion garments?The following is a qualitative study based on five research articles applying different research methodologies: case studies, simulations, and interviews. The empirical context is the area of mass customisation of fashion products and knitting technology, more specifically called complete garment knitting production technology. No prior studies describing mass customisation of complete garment knitting technology in combination with fashion logistics were found in the literature. The main contribution of this study is the demonstration that complete garment knitting technology can be applied in the customisation of fashion products. It also illustrates the importance of the co-design process between the company and the customer through which a knitted garment can be customised, produced, and delivered to the customer in three to five hours. The process of co-design and manufacture of a customised complete fashion product is examined, and the advantages and disadvantages associated with customisation of knitted garments are identified and described.

The background to this thesis is the dynamics and institutions of the fashion world. They have developed out of reasons of convenience and on the whole they work, but there are possibilities of improvement. Time from style and colour-direction to market is up to 18 months, from design to market 12 months and from forecast to market six months. With such long lead-times, there will be a few inherited problems such as matching supply and demand and offering sizes to people with non-standard body shapes. Some of the problems are related to mass and volumes, it is simply not possible to produce garments that fit everybody’s needs and to keep them in stock. The result of the long lead-times and need for mass and volume is low forecast performance, a forecast error of ±40% six months prior to the season is not unusual, which in turn leads to a sell-through percentage of about 60 percent. To adress some the problems of the fashion world a research initiative called Knit on Demand has been developed. It is a research project at the Swedish School of Textiles, in collaboration with the knitwear manufaturer Ivanhoe AB and the fashion retailer SOMconcept AB. The purpose of the project was to “…develop and test a new production and logistic solution for agility in customer relations.” To fulfill the purpose of the project, a supply chain for customised knitwear was set up and then tested. Customers customised and bought their garments at SOMconcept in Stockholm; the order was then transferred to Ivanhoe who produced the garment and then delivered it to the customer within a couple of weeks. The supply chain has been analysed on supply chain performance, customer behaviour, design and technology. In addition to the Knit on Demand supply chain, SOMconcept’s other products have been analysed and a simulation of Shima Seikis Ordermade system has been performed.The methods in the thesis are mostly qualitative with elements of quantitativeness. An action research methodology was applied to develop the project and then a number of case studies and simulations.The results show that most of the customers that are purchasing mass customised garments are niche customers that would have problems finding garments that fit them in the conventional fashion outlet. Important to the customers are service in the store and the experience of customising their garments. Since a mass customisation concept works on niche markets it would benefit from the Long Tail economy that gives better access to niche customers. / <p><b>Sponsorship</b>:</p><p>KK-stiftelsen</p>

This research investigates the potential of the general public to actively design their own products and let consumers either manufacture by themselves or send the files to manufacturers to be produced. This approach anticipates the rapid growth of fabrication technology, particularly in Additive Manufacturing (AM)/3D printing. Recent developments in the field of AM/3D printing have led to renewed interest in how to manufacture customised products and in a way that will allow consumers to create bespoke products more easily. These technologies can enhance the understanding of non-technology compliant consumers and bring the manufacturing process closer to them. Consequently, to make AM/3D printing more accessible and easier to employ by the general public, design aspects need to be developed to be as simple to operate in the same manner as AM/3D printing technologies. These technologies will then attract consumers who want to produce Do-It-Yourself (DIY) products. This study suggests a Computer-aided Consumer Design (CaCODE) system as user- friendly design software to simplify the Computer Aided Design (CAD) stages that are required to produce 3D model data required by the AM/3D printing process. This software will be an easy-to-operate design system where consumers interact with parameters of designed forms easily instead of operating conventional CAD. In addition, this research investigates the current capabilities of AM/3D printing technologies in producing consumer products. To uncover the potential of consumer-led design and manufacturing, CaCODE has been developed for consumer evaluation, which is needed to measure the appropriateness of the tool. In addition, a range of consumer product samples as pens has been built using a range of different materials, AM/3D printing technologies and additional post-processing methods. This was undertaken to evaluate consumer acceptance of the AM/3D printed product based on products perceived quality. Forty non-designer participants, 50% male and 50% female, from 5 to 64 years old, 6-7 participants per ten-year age groups in 6 groups, were recruited. The results indicated that 75% of the participants would like to design their own product using consumer design software. The study compared how consumers interacted with the 3D model to manipulate the shape by using two methods: indirect manipulation (sliders) and direct manipulation (drag points). The majority of the participants would prefer to use the direct manipulation because they felt it was easy to use and enabled them to enjoy the design process. The study concluded that the direct manipulation was more acceptable because it enabled users to touch the digital product and manipulate it, making it more intuitive and natural. The research finds that there is a potential for consumers to design a product using user-friendly design tools. Using these findings, a consumer design tool concept was created for future development. The study indicated that 53% of participants would like to use products made by AM/3D printing although they still wanted the surface finish of injection moulded parts. However, the AM/3D printing has advantages that can fulfil the participants preference such as multi-materials from the material jetting method and it is proved that additional post-processing can increase participants acceptance level.

L'IDentification par Radio-Fréquences (RFID) permet une identification rapide et efficace des objets. Dans les systèmes de personnalisation de masse, elle promet un apport considérable grâce à sa capacité à gérer des flux d'information complexes caractérisant ce type de systèmes.Dans cette thèse, nous étudions les impacts de la RFID sur les systèmes de configuration à la demande (CTO). Nous nous basons sur un cas réel pour apporter une mesure fiable et directement exploitable. La littérature à ce sujet offre souvent des mesures sommaires, théoriques ou qualitatives, d'où l'originalité de la thèse.L'étude est réalisée par une approche de simulation à évènements discrets et évalue l'apport des technologies RFID à deux niveaux. Le premier concerne des changements directs du système (e.g. accélération des maintes vérifications caractérisant la CTO, libération de ressources...). Ces changements influencent la performance du système en termes de temps de séjour, de taux de retard des commandes, etc. Le deuxième niveau concerne des changements profonds tirant profit d'une visibilité accrue des produits et de la facilité d'une collecte de données rigoureuse. Ces changements se focalisent sur l'allocation dynamique de la charge de travail. La remise en question des processus à l'occasion de l'introduction d'une technologie RFID constitue un point original en raison du manque de publications soulignantsuffisamment cet avantage.Nos expérimentations ont montré que les apports des technologies RFID dans un système CTO sont indéniables. De plus, repenser le fonctionnement du système afin d'exploiter plus profondément le potentiel de la technologie accroit les bénéfices. / Radio Frequency IDentification allows quick and secure identification of objects. In mass customisation systems, RFID technologies can be peculiarly efficient, because they are able to support the complex flows of information which characterize these systems.In this study, we focus on RFID technologies effects on configuration to order (CTO) systems.We base the research on an existing case in order to obtain reliable information directly usable by decision makers. The rarity of studies offering quantitative, detailed and real case based measures makes the originality of this thesis.RFID technology implementation's effect is analysed by a discrete event simulation approach and is presented in two levels:The first level relates direct changes brought about by RFID (e.g. faster execution of the many checks due to the wide range of products, reduced workload for resources…). These changes have an impact on system's performance in terms of lead time, late orders' rate, etc.The second level is axed on deeper changes occurring due to the increased product visibility and the ease of collecting large amounts of data with an RFID technology.These changes mainly focus on the dynamic allocation of workload. Reconsidering of processes and proposing changes deeper than the simple direct technology impact is a breakthrough, in this study, because of the lack of publications highlighting this benefit adequately.In conclusion, RFID contribution in CTO systems and, extensively, in assembly to order systems may be undeniable. Moreover, beyond the direct technology impact, rethinking how the system works by exploiting the deeper potential of technology can increase profits.