Mass customization -- making products tailor-made for each individual buyer, in which even the base components are varied -- sounds impossible. Yet it is a reality in Japan and represents a new Japanese competitive advantage. Roy Westbrook and Peter Williamson, reflecting on many visits to...

The UK government promoted a 'manufacturing, planning and implementation' (MPI) scheme between 1991 and 1994. Its aim was to support the strategic development of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) in participating companies. For such AMT developments to be strategic required the companies...