In the manufacturing world, there are two primary types of products – mass-produced stock items, also known as off-the-shelf products, and custom-manufactured items, where a customer can have a greater say in what they want. Mass production came about as a consequence of the industrial revolution. What mass production offered to consumers was greater access to products of uniform quality at reduced prices. The trade off was that customers had less control over the exact details of the product that they received. As Henry Ford once said in regard to his Model T, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black.” This quote underscores one of the key differences between mass-produced versus custom products – consumer choice. One of the ways in which mass production reduces costs is to develop processes that maximize efficiency. This objective is accomplished in part by reducing the need for human involvement and driving towards the standardization of design features, materials, and methods of production. The result of this drive to efficiency is less variability in product production. What mass production offers in gains to efficiency, custom manufacturing offers in craftsmanship and flexibility.
In this article, we will explore more about custom manufacturing and examine how it differs from mass production, how custom manufacturers may be characterized, and what factors underlie the need for custom products.
Mass Produced Products
Mass-produced products tend to follow a Just-In-Time (JIT) business model, are typically manufactured in large quantities, and require massive automated assembly lines for production. All elements of the process, including the selection of materials and components, the assembly methods, and the test and measurement steps that monitor and assure quality and uniformity of the delivered products, are under tight control. Because of this emphasis on standardization, mass-produced production processes are not geared for customization and design changes. If changes are made, they are likely to be implemented across the board so as to impact all the products that are fabricated from the production line, such as a design change to correct a defect or a process change that reduces costs or simplifies production.
Table 1 below contrasts the characteristics of mass production against those of custom manufacturing. As shown, mass production utilizes assembly lines and focuses on generating large quantities of products so as to achieve an economy of scale that lowers prices. Automated production reduces the amount of hands-on human involvement in the fabrication of each item, and also reduces human error. Because of the standard process and high production rates, design changes are not as easily implemented, and the end product has fewer customization options.
Table 1 – Contrast of Mass Production Versus Custom Manufacturing
| Characteristic | Mass Production | Custom Manufacturing |
| Production Quantities | Medium – Very Large | Small |
| Process Automation | Highly Automated | Lower Automation |
| Human Involvement | Machine driven with less human oversight | Machine use with more human interaction |
| Labor Costs | Lower | Higher |
| Potential for Human Error | Lower | Higher |
| Design Change Implementation | More difficult | Easier |
| Inventory | JIT/large inventory | Build to order |
| Production time | Lower | Higher |
| Customization | Limited options | Unlimited |
| Human Involvement with each item produced | Low | High |
| Customer interaction | Low | High |
| Quality Assurance | Lower | Higher |
| Degree of Standardization | Very High | Low |
| Economy of Scale | Very High | Low |
| Costs | Generally Lower | Typically Higher |
Custom Manufactured Products
Custom manufacturing, by contrast, is defined by its agility and ability to design, engineer, and manufacture unique products that are meant to fit specific functions or requirements. Unlike mass-produced products, custom-made products are often produced in smaller quantities on a made-to-order basis. While machinery is still used in many processes, there is by its nature much less automation in custom manufacturing and greater reliance on a small team of engineers and machinists to fabricate, inspect, test, and deliver the products to the customer. Because the products are being made to the customer’s specifications, there will tend to be the need for more interaction between the manufacturing team and the customer during the production process, especially early on when requirements are being reviewed and process steps defined. Custom products can also naturally require a higher degree of quality assurance since what is important to inspect, measure, and test can vary from one product to the next, making metrology less standard. The combination of these factors will generally mean that production times are longer and the degree of human involvement with each item produced is higher. The net result is generally higher costs that get reflected in a higher price for custom manufactured products.
Custom manufacturing is typically performed in smaller job shops, which implement a wide range of machining and fabrication operations. These operations include capabilities such as CNC machining, Swiss screw turning, injection molding, stamping, extrusion, plasma cutting, waterjet cutting, welding, soldering, and more. Many of the machines that furnish job shops are specifically designed to simplify these production operations, but as mentioned earlier, the degree of automation found in a small job shop will likely be much lower than in the production line of a mass-production operation. So, at each step in the overall process, human involvement and control play a much larger role, which explains the longer production times and higher labor costs.
In addition to smaller batch production, custom manufacturers also tend to offer a suite of value-added services, which typically include services such as design assistance, engineering, and finishing operations. Custom manufacturers also offer reverse engineering services, which is the process of deconstructing an object in order to understand its structure and how to build it from the constituent components. They also have a high degree of expertise in manufacturing processes, and so can offer guidance around the options that are available when fabricating a product so that the most efficient and cost-effective process is used. They often play a key role in assisting with prototype designs and can work with entrepreneurs and inventors to take a raw design concept and modify it for manufacturability.
Whether you are looking for custom manufacturing services in Europe, Asia, the U.S, Canada, or elsewhere, custom manufacturers are available to assist with taking a customer’s design from concept to completed product by leveraging their expertise and technology.
Specializations within Custom Manufacturing
Examples of products that are typically custom manufactured vary considerably and may include military devices, aerospace components, medical devices, and architectural elements, to name just a few. Because of the broad span of products that can be produced and the variety of manufacturing processes that exist, most job shops tend to specialize in the production of specific types of products or ones that utilize certain process operations. This specialization is driven by the considerable financial investment needed to purchase and maintain the machinery used in custom manufacturing as well as the costs to hire and train personnel to operate them. Having a broader set of capabilities may increase the value that a custom manufacturer can offer to a customer, but that added value comes at a higher cost.
As a result, it is not uncommon for custom manufacturers to market themselves on the basis of either the markets they serve, materials in which they specialize, processes that they offer, or specific products that they produce (for example, enclosures vs. packaging). A few examples of custom manufacturing specializations appear in Table 2 below, which by no means is an exhaustive list.
Table 2 – Select Examples of Specializations for Custom Manufacturers
| Specialization by Market | Specialization by Process | Specialization by Material | Specialization by Product |
| Aerospace & Defense | CNC Machining | Sheet Metal | Printed Circuit Boards |
| Medical | Plasma/Laser/Waterjet Cutting | Polymers & Plastics | Adhesives & Sealants |
| Automotive | Casting | Rubber | Clothing |
| Consumer products | Forging | Paper | Furniture |
| Food & Beverage | Stamping | Fabric | Gaskets & Seals |
| Oil & Gas | Molding | Iron & Steel | Enclosures |
| Architectural | 3D printing | Wood | Millwork |
| Electronics | Extruding | Glass | Optical components |
Custom manufacturers may often provide services that span several processes and material types or can be more narrowly constrained, depending on which markets and products they are seeking to address. Also, note that there is an interconnection between these four specialization types – for example, choosing sheet metal as a material by necessity mandates specific processes and machines be available for use in cutting and forming that material. And those processes then define to some degree the types of products that can be fabricated using that set of materials and processes.
There is no “one size fits all” definition around custom manufacturing, and so it is important when seeking a custom manufacturer with whom to partner to develop a full understanding of their capabilities and match those to the requirements of the product that you are looking to have built.
Choosing Custom Manufacturing
Choosing to work with a custom manufacturer as opposed to utilizing a standard mass-produced or off-the-shelf product may be driven by any number of underlying factors. Those factors will vary depending on the type of product being considered, the market into which the product is being sold, and the customer’s needs/wishes.
Below are a few scenarios that help to illustrate where custom manufacturing is needed or preferred over mass-produced items.
Engineering factors
When selecting parts or components in the design of a system, engineers will typically seek to use standard off-the-shelf components. The reasons behind this decision are usually ones such as:
- Off-the-shelf components have known performance levels and usually have proven reliability, reducing risks.
- Using standard components eliminates any NRE (non-recurring engineering) costs associated with upfront design, tooling, or other activities.
- Unit costs will be lower from the use of less expensive components.
- Design time is reduced.
However, custom products may be used in some cases for reasons such as:
- No existing product can be found that meets the performance or environmental requirements of the customer.
- The form or fit of the product must match an existing design and no standard item exists with the required form or fit.
Customer factors
Customers often drive the decision to seek a custom manufacturer directly. A common use case of this type is with entrepreneurs or inventors that are seeking to create prototypes of their new product ideas. Creating a prototype or producing a short run of a new design are services in which custom manufacturers are skilled. They can also function in a consulting capacity to assist with transforming a functioning prototype into one that is better suited for manufacturing by selection materials or processes that improve throughput, reduce scrap, and drive down unit costs.
Product factors
Some products almost by their nature need to be considered as custom products. This situation may often be the case with products that are installed “on-site” and fitted to the end user’s facility or application. A simple example would be a company that does installations of fencing. The elements that comprise the fencing (standard sections, posts, gates, etc.) might be considered as standard items initially, but it is unlikely that those items will all fit together into a final form without the need for some customization to take place. So, from the perspective of the finished product (the installed fencing system), one might characterize it as a custom product given that no two such installations will realistically be identical to one another. Another viewpoint is to characterize this type of activity as a service, which is sometimes the case. Architectural items may also be examples of this
type, with custom doors or millwork representing a design that fits a unique installation.
Custom Products Versus Customized Products
Within the spectrum of custom manufactured products, it may be the case that manufacturers of mass-produced products may market their ability to offer some degree of custom products as well. Many B2C examples of this exist, and therefore it is useful to recognize and present a distinction between a custom product and customization of a standard product.
A custom product typically entails having a design that is unique, defined by a set of drawings and specifications, and often necessitating the manufacturer to create tooling or reprogram automated machinery in order to fabricate the item.
In contrast, some standard products are able to be customized to a certain degree even though the process for producing the item is largely unchanged and the variations are not that significant. Examples of this type of customization include promotional products (tee shirts, coffee mugs) or mobile phone cases that can be emblazoned with a photo, logo, or other graphics. While each item produced could arguably be considered unique, the differences between items are largely cosmetic in nature and not functional.
Other examples include product options such as automobiles. Having a choice of colors and seat materials available when purchasing a new car does not mean that the car is custom, but rather that the available features are customizable.
There are, however, suppliers of mass-produced products that can provide custom products to meet specific client needs. A manufacturer of power supplies that offers a standard line of products may have the capacity to produce a power supply with specific electrical outputs (voltages and currents) that are somewhat different from those of their standard lines in order to match a client’s performance requirements. In many cases, the changes needed to achieve this objective may be nothing more than relatively minor tweaks to an existing design rather than a complete from-scratch redevelopment. The point to be made is that custom products, while most often associated with small job shops and fabricators, may also be available from suppliers of standard lines. The availability will depend largely on how much of a change the custom product represents relative to their traditional lines of business.
Summary
Custom manufacturing offers a pathway to satisfy needs that cannot be fulfilled by an off-the-shelf or mass-produced product. With a wide range of custom manufacturers available, it is essential to understand their capabilities and match those against the needs dictated by your product design.
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