Implications of personalization offers on demand and supply network design: A case from the golf club industry

Competitive, open and global markets render the consumer more demanding towards manufacturers' offers. In the past, firms could be competitive by providing value in quality, price and quick delivery. In the new economy, with the coming of e-business, the personalization of products becomes a key competitive factor. Manufacturers need to develop capabilities to fulfill these personalization needs while still respecting price, quality and service. This is an enormous challenge since there are many possible personalization offers that a firm could propose, up to the extreme of delivering a distinct product to each client. An initial step towards developing the appropriate personalization offers and capabilities is the identification of the potential personalization offers and how they affect the key processes within the demand and supply network. The paper presents a framework comprising of eight personalization options that can be combined to form a complete personalized offer. It then contrasts their impact on the demand and supply network. It exploits the industry of golf irons for illustration purposes. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.