The use of a flexible manufacturing system by Japan's National Bicycle Industrial Co. to build semicustom bicycles to customer specifications is described. The diamond-shaped frame is built to the purchaser's individual measurements and style of riding and fitted with the purchaser's choice of components (gears, pedals, brakes, handlebars) and accessories. A computer generates a CAD/CAM mechanical drawing of the bicycle to test the frame's design and assigns a bar code number for all components. A total of 11,231,860 variations is possible.