News from the Lab: Results of KUMAC Half-Time Meeting

The objective of the KUMAC project is to develop new methods for mass customization providers in the German retail market, which support an increase in productivity and value creation potential of these retailers.

At the half-time conference last week in Aachen, some very interesting first results could be presented to the funding parties, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

In collaboration with industry partners three very concrete applications to enhance interaction between retail companies and customers could be demonstrated to the project consortium:

I. Tablet-Based Retail Support System

One promising approach is to have mobile hardware such as tablets available in retail stores. A tablet-based configuration support system helps retailers to organize service and interaction processes in a more productive way. Customers can design their product of choice at home, save it to their customer account and then visit a store in order to optimize the configuration. Together with the Selve AG we have developed and implemented such a tablet-based configuration support system in their store.

II. Live Online Video Support

Another approach to enhance interactive systems is to add a system to a company’s online shop that allows customers to communicate with a product specialist in real time and face to face. We are currently evaluating such a webcam based system as part of the Selve online store.

III. Advanced Customer Understanding Through CustomerDNA

This approach includes intelligent software that allows companies to better understand the customer’s needs by remembering choices that have been made during previous purchases. All information will be gathered into a highly individual set of attributes just like the very individual human DNA and used to make future shopping even more enjoyable, less time consuming and more efficient. This concept is currently being tested at Ertl/Renz in form of an on-site terminal for customer use. Once the system is fully tested and optimized, future use as an integrated online system will be possible as well.

KUMAC is a featured research project on MCKN. You will find more information about KUMAC on the dedicated project website!