The triumph of product standardization, a core principle of mass production, was manufacturing’s man-on-the-moon moment. As essential to industrial revolution as the division of labor and machine-assisted manufacturing, it changed everything.
Henry Ford organized his entire business around these principles, famously telling prospective car buyers, “You can have any color, as long as it’s black.”
But today’s customers aren’t buying it. One-size-fits-all doesn’t fit anymore.
