Five separate groups of amateur aviators are vying to walk in the footsteps of aerospace pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright. The goal of each organization is to build a reproduction of the Wright Flyer, the first aircraft to achieve the age-old dream of controlled and powered flight.
Anne Stevens, vice president of North American vehicle operations at Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, MI), referred to mass customization during her recent keynote speech at the 2002 Assembly Technology Expo in Rosemont, IL. According to Stevens, "customization" means making products in small lots or batches with volumes as little as one.
