Tecnologia de informação e customização em massa: evidências na indústria de transformação

Mass customization strategy may be understood as a conjunction of plans that serve as reference for decision making in order to satisfy the necessities of individual clients, by means of a rapid disposition of goods and services at low prices and within large scales. The objective of this article is to analyze the information technology as it is being used to enable the adoption of mass customization. The research strategy adopted was a multiple-case study, which was carried out in seven companies belonging to different business of the transformation industry. Semi-structured interviews were implemented as the main technique for collecting data. The analysis of data took place in two phases: within-case analysis and cross-case analysis. The results verified that the use of the information technology in the processes of the businesses that perform mass customization of their products for their clients is not present in a uniform manner. Its degree of utilization primarily depends on the stage of the value chain where customization occurs and the model adopted for the sale of the products and client interaction. The research revealed interaction and the customer's accompaniment, the search for the flexibility in the productive processes, the optimization of the cooperative project and the integration among the links of the supply chain are elements supported by the information technology for the implementation of the mass customization.