§16§Product customization is a growing concern in today's competitive business environment. A customer-driven product design and development system must be developed to respond to customers' aspirations and demands. Success in customization process is achieved by swiftly reconfiguring product development process and business strategies with respect to individual customers needs and dynamic production requirements. Product reconfiguration approach allows satisfying unexpected customers demand through offering extra features. It permits customers to choose their products based on choices of product attributes. Along with product reconfiguration process, a new level of information integration among product development participants is required both within the firm and with external environments. In this book, the integration of information system among potential customers, designers and manufacturers is developed with a view to fabricate custom-built products. This integration process als §16§o needs to formulate with appropriate production strategies such as; modularity, platform-based product development, commonality etc to meet diverse market demands.
