Time Compression Technologies Employment in Customised Product Development

Today’s strategy for competition is based on innovative business models. Several examples exist of how companies develop their business models based on the principles of “mass customization” which represents a trade-off between mass production and the challenge of a really “customized” product (ad personam). Some companies have recently focused with more attention on the challenge of providing customers with an unique product, built on the customer’s body, wish and feelings, that has almost the same delivery time, price and quality of common serial product. In order to obtain such a product, the manufacturing process must be radically revised. This paper discusses the employment of time compression technologies (TCT), mainly reverse engineering and rapid prototyping, as an effective solution for the development of customized products. The unique shape of a human body (or parts of it) can be digitalized using reverse engineering (RE) techniques in order to obtain a 3D model which highlights the constraints introduced by customization. Then data coming from RE can be easily fused with CAD models in order to rapidly obtain a 3D electronic model of the product which can be enriched with customized surface textures according to customer’s likings. Once the digital model is available, different rapid prototyping (RP) and manufacturing (RM) techniques can be used depending on the mechanical and physical features of the final product. The result is a unique, rapid, and perfectly customized product with performances allowing for a moderately higher price. The aim of our investigation is to propose an easy, time and cost-effective process in order to enhance the feasibility of customized products. Starting from an evaluation on current trends among accessories for young users some case-studies have been analyzed.