Abstract: With the development of the remanufacturing industry, it is required that the function and performance of remanufactured products not only should reach or even exceed that of new ones, but also should adapt to the customers’ demands of diversification and individuation and the changeable competition market as new ones. Based on the theory of mass customization, the bi-directional characteristics for mass customization are unveiled, which originate from the maximization of the remanufacturing rate and the customers’ demands of diversification and individuation. And further, a mass customization process model for remanufacturing systems is established. By considering the processes of both manufacturing and remanufacturing together, a 3D-customization optimization strategy of mass customization process in the remanufacturing systems is proposed, which includes the product structure dimension, remanufacturing process dimension and part reuse dimension. Based on the remanufacturing practice of lathe and gear hobbing machine of a certain company, the application of the optimization strategy for mass customization is introduced.

Key words: Machine tool, Manufacturing system, Mass Customization, Remanufacturing