Seeing that mass customization will imply significant modifications of the current production process, the implications of the change will have to be studied closely. Also, the specified change will demand a significant enhancement of the existing communication process. For instance, the company will have to ensure that the dialogue with the vendor will remain consistent and uninterrupted; otherwise, the process of managing the supply chain may be disrupted. The latter scenario will trigger an immediate drop in quality caused by delays, misinterpretation of data, and mismanagement of crucial tasks. As a result, the product will be delivered to a customer late and may have serious quality problems.
Therefore, mass customization will only be a possibility as long as the supply chain is managed flawlessly in the organization. Particularly, communication issues will have to be considered. To ensure that customers’ demands are understood and fully met, one will need to coordinate the customer process. For instance, the sketches of the product, the materials that will be used for its production, the shoes’ properties, etc., will have to be addressed in conversations with customers.
Given the requirements mentioned above, it will be unreasonable to demand immediate customization of shoes from the vendor. Instead, it will be necessary to give the vendor time to adjust to the supply chain management process changes and redesign the current operations to ensure future success. Also, it will be crucial to address the issue of quality management. Seeing that the mass customization may imply a less rigid control over the production of shoes, a redesign of quality control tools may be needed.