Original 2021 statement: Manufacturing is no longer about mass production, it’s about mass customization
What Jim has written about this
From “Megatrends One Year Later – #14: Mass Customization Systems – What I Predicted, and What’s Actually Happening” (August 2026)
One year ago, in July 2025, I published Megatrend #14: Mass Customization Systems as part of my 30 Megatrends series. Time to grade myself.
Manufacturing production is shifting from standardized mass manufacturing to personalized creation at scale. 3D printing is just the beginning of this new world of flexible manufacturing systems that fundamentally change how we think about inventory, distribution, and product design.
Manufacturing is moving away from the century-old paradigm of standardized mass production toward a more agile, customer-centric model: mass customization. This transition represents more than an incremental improvement in production techniques; it is a fundamental re-architecting of how products are designed, created, inventoried, and distributed.
From “Daily Inspiration: “We’re quickly moving from the era of mass production to one of mass customization…That’s your reality - and that’s your opportunity!”” (November 2021)
“We’re quickly moving from the era of mass production to one of mass customization, in which any potential customer in the world is now less than 3 days away from the order date. That’s your reality - and that’s your opportunity!” - Futurist Jim Carroll
From “Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #14 Mass Customization Systems: “The future isn’t mass-produced; it’s mass-personalized, empowering customers to co-create the products that shape their world.”” (July 2025)
First up is ’ mass customization .’ What’s that? Manufacturing production is shifting from standardized mass manufacturing to personalized creation at scale. 3D printing is just the beginning of this new world of flexible manufacturing systems that fundamentally change how we think about inventory, distribution, and product design.
This is a rather tectonic shift, because manufacturing is moving away from the century-old paradigm of standardized mass production toward a more agile, customer-centric model: mass customization. This transition represents more than an incremental improvement in production techniques; it is a fundamental re-architecting of how products are designed, created, inventoried, and distributed.
At its core, mass customization synthesizes the distinct advantages of two opposing production philosophies: the low unit costs of mass production and the high-value personalization of custom manufacturing. It involves a pretty dramatic shift from ” make-to-stock to make-to-order .”
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
Megatrends One Year Later – #14: Mass Customization Systems – What I Predicted, and What’s Actually Happening
Daily Inspiration: “We’re quickly moving from the era of mass production to one of mass customization…That’s your reality - and that’s your opportunity!”
Decoding Tomorrow: 30 Megatrends - #14 Mass Customization Systems: “The future isn’t mass-produced; it’s mass-personalized, empowering customers to co-create the products that shape their world.”