At UPPS, our goal is to develop an integrated design methodology for Ultra-Personalised Products and Services. This effort involves a unique interdisciplinary collaboration among three technical universities, together with the Dutch manufacturing industry and design studios. Our primary focus is to drive the knowledge transfer and tools from lab to production. Our methodology is not just a procedural roadmap but a unique methodological framework, developed through collaborative research efforts amongst professors from different universities, PhD candidates and post docs.
Our methodology emphasises foundational research to advance the field of personalised products, leading to extensive and detailed publications. These publications relate to one or more phases of the UPPS workflow. Therefore, the workflow forms the foundation upon which the UPPS framework is based.
The UPPS framework below is visualised as a roadmap. Starting at the customer, a track is followed through the initial phase of data collection, using advanced data gathering technologies, where customer measurement and customer interaction play a key role in product design. The customer measurement is fitted alongside a population digital model to create a customer digital twin. Together with customer preferences, the digital product model and other important input, this digital twin ‘feeds’ the expert system. After processing all this data in the design phase, an automated customised design track is followed to deliver the factory with all necessary information for a particular order. Eventually, user experience data, together with production feedback are cycled back into the system, improving quality and efficiency over time.
The UPPS research topics embody a diverse range of disciplines, all converging to enrich the domain of ultra-personalisation of products and services. Each topic represents a vital component of the overarching methodology that ensures products are not only tailored to individual customers but are also viable and sustainable within the market. Here’s a brief overview of each research topic.
Our collaborative research efforts involving professors from different universities, PhD candidates, and postdoctoral researchers have resulted in various research publications available on our published works page. Additional publications related to ultra-personalisation by others outside of UPPS can be found on our related projects page.