Product configuration for mass customisation: a systematic literature review

Successful mass customisation (MC) depends on a successful and effective product configuration. It is necessary for industries adopting an MC strategy to understand all the guidelines and requirements for product configuration. This study fulfils this aim by presenting a systematic literature review (SLR) on product configuration for MC. A total of 122 relevant articles (2000-2025) were selected using the PRISMA framework to analyse four interconnected aspects of product configuration: user requirements conversion, knowledge modelling, optimisation techniques (63 articles), and recommendation systems. The analysis revealed an increasing interest in the topic over the years, with a primary focus on optimisation techniques. The review revealed existing challenges in product configuration, including scalability, user fatigue, uncertainty, and dynamic environments. Moreover, some topics have been overlooked, such as product lifecycle integration, psychological aspects of user choice, and sustainability. Few environmental indicators were considered across four studies, and none considered social performance. This review contributes by identifying trends across different domains, research gaps, and future directions. Additionally, this SLR clarifies how configuration relates to production aspects such as supply chain, production planning, and lead time. Moreover, a guideline for successful product configuration implementation that supports both customer and production requirements has been developed.