The S-MC-S projects aims at supporting European manufacturing enterprises to adapt to global competitive pressures by developing methods and innovative enabling technologies towards a personalized, customer oriented and eco-efficient manufacturing, across a broad range of sectors. To this end, S-MC-S vision is to define and research a new production paradigm, Sustainable Mass-Customization, while also presenting Customization as one of the main driving forces behind the future success of Sustainability. Nowadays, companies still fail to profit from mass-customization because of two main factors:
I- there is no real networked environment, based on a common strategy and appropriate Supply Chain, meant to empower mass customization along the entire value chain, nor specific methodologies and tools to handle Mass Customization (MC) implementation. Current industrial MC solutions are developed with non specific tools and are focused on single companies, thus far behind from the implementation and exploitation of the concept of multi‐site multi‐nation factory (and the related logistic, legislative, organizational aspects);
II- the evaluation of Mass Customization implementation must move beyond the mere assessment of economic aspects, steering towards the integration of Environmental and Social consequences into the assessment of the value chain, thus fostering a sustainable approach in MC.
The fact is that manufacturing is growing beyond the economic context, into a social ecological phenomenon, both from the side of the end-user as from the side of governments whom, guided by increased customer eco-consciousness, are expected to further introduce eco-taxes, motivating companies to move towards sustainable manufacturing, to be reactive towards customer needs and wishes, and proactive towards ecological and environmental impact. This fact still faces the absence of proper solutions.

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