Modeling and application of configuration complexity scale: concept for customized production

In current business environment, many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are employing mass customization strategies, which have implication on the entire operations of an enterprise and especially influence the character of their assembly processes. Increased product differentiation in context of mass-customized production (MCP) causes significant changes in complexity of assembly systems. Our focus in this paper is on the development of a methodological framework of mass-customized assembly modeling all possible product configurations and variants based on the number and type of assembly components from which final product configurations are completed. Subsequently, we propose an approach to determining the so-called configuration complexity scale based on combinatory used for many years as a foundation of methodologies for assessments of variety. The underlying hypothesis in this study is that configuration complexity scale offers a generic complexity framework for decision-making on variable products and production structures within Industry 4.0 concepts. The presented methodological framework is further applied on a particular case model of mass-customized assembly.