1,721,000 research outputs found
At the origins of Product Service Systems: Supporting the concept assessment with the Engineering Value Assessment method
No full textIn recent years, the economic circumstances spur many companies in changing their traditional product-oriented value proposition toward a more customised and sustainable offer referred as Product-Service Systems (PSS). The main advantages of the new solutions are related to their customisation which can grant an improved customer experience. However, while pursuing greater differentiation from competitors and ‘locking-in’ customers and ‘locking-out’ competitors, many of the above-cited companies either miss interesting business opportunities or bet on the wrong solution concept. Early stage engineering phase plays a crucial role concerning the subsequent lifecycle phases, guiding the identification and the selection of valuable solutions while preventing commitment of resources on poor design alternatives. In the light of the criticality of this phase, this paper builds on empirical studies in the manufacturing industry and highlights the need for systematic procedures, methods and metrics able to encompass customer satisfaction together with the producer’s value perspective during the early design assessment. The outcome of the paper is the Engineering Value Assessment (EVA) method. It is a 2 step procedure composed of multi-criteria decision-making methods with specific criteria for a comprehensive value assessment of PSS from both the customers’ and the provider’s perspectives. The EVA also guides the identification of trade-off between the two through the Importance-Performance Analysis. Verification activities in the power and automation industry highlight the main benefits and the implications of the EVA method in guiding the decision making in the early stages of design and in balancing the trade-off between customer and provider value during the PSS assessment phase. Further developments and improvements are also discussed
Service Engineering Methodology and Energy Services: Applicability Analysis and Case Study
Full text linkA simplified approach towards customer and provider value in PSS for small and medium-sized enterprises
Full text linkWhile the provision of PSS is becoming more and more common, the transition toward a servitized business model is still critical. This is particularly true for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) due to their limited internal resources and ability to define a servitization strategy. A crucial aspect during this transition is the identification of the right solutions to be implemented into the business, which must render high value capture for providers and create value for customers. While a literature review showed that a large number of evaluation methods are available, these are often complex and require substantial amounts of resources in order to be carried out. This paper aims at supporting companies in taking decisions during early design phases by proposing a method that combines two existing approaches: The EVA method and the ProVa method. The combined method simplifies the existing ones while aiming at an easy implementation and application in SMEs. It is composed of two steps, the first pursuing the identification of valuable concepts from both the customer and the provider perspective; the second pursuing an individual analysis of the components available for use in the concept selected. The application of the simplified method in a student-executed case of a startup company seeking to enter the distributed mobility market highlights the ease of use of the method in rendering valuable PSS concepts and in evaluating its specific components
Assessing PSS from a multi stakeholders’ perspective: the application of the EVA method in the airport context
Full text linkRecent economic developments and the spread of technology are pushing companies toward the provision of complex and innovative Product-Service System (PSS). On the other side, information and communication technologies are enabling the identification of a plethora of PSSs characterized by different levels of integration among products, services and infrastructure. In this context, many companies are experimenting difficulties in selecting the proper PSS to be developed, that is the one that concurrently considers the needs of multiple stakeholders and a good engagement of them in the value creation and engineering process. This paper exploits the Engineering Value Assessment (EVA) method to support the evaluation and the assessment of PSS solutions in a B2C context where the management of multiple stakeholders’ perspectives is of utmost relevance. To demonstrate the EVA method applicability, the airport context was selected as an example of system complexity since it involves manifold actors: passengers, airport and airlines. Four different PSSs for the self-drop bag were identified and further analyzed through the EVA method in order to identify which is the best one to be adopted in the studied airport in the north of Italy considering the preferences of the three actors: the passengers, the airport and the airlines
Digital servitization and competence development: A case-study research
No full textExploiting new technologies, companies are increasingly improving their service offerings. This paper aims at identifying the pathways that companies are undertaking in the digital servitization and recognize what are the competences relevant for the development and management of new service offerings based on Industry 4.0 technologies. Through the development of a conceptual model and a multiple case-study, the digital servitization journeys of eight industrial companies and the related competences are discussed, suggesting that various categories of competences enable different digital servitization paths, but proper combination of technical, methodological, personal and social skills, is required to succeed in the digital servitization
An IPA Based Method for PSS Design Concept Assessment
Full text linkLiterature and field study research highlight that transiting toward PSS means for many companies to either miss interesting business opportunities or to bet on the wrong solution concept. Early stage assessment activities play a crucial role in this respect, guiding the selection of a value-adding PSS while preventing commitment of resources on poor design alternatives. Emerging from empirical studies in the manufacturing industry, the paper highlights the need for systematic procedures, tools and metrics able to encompass customer satisfaction together with the producer's value perspective in such assessment. The paper proposes a 2 step assessment method based on the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) matrix enabling the integration of customer and provider value and supporting early stage PSS design decision making. Verification activities highlight the positive implications of balancing the trade-off between customer and provider value during the PSS assessment phase
A systematic review of value metrics for PSS design
Full text linkThe notion of ‘value’ has become pivotal in the PSS domain, with a plethora of ‘indicators’, ‘drivers’ and ‘measurements’ proposed to guide the assessment of PSS concepts across the design process. This paper presents the results of a systematic literature review that maps existing contributions dealing with metrics for PSS value in early design. The findings reveal the lack of a common taxonomy to define what PSS value is, as well as differences in terms of granularity of the applied metrics, which span from very generic to highly case-study specific. This mapping aims at validating a proposed classification framework for such metrics, which balances customer and provider value perspectives in early stage PSS concept assessment activities. Its goal is to raise the cross-functional design team awareness on the multiple value types impacted by early stage design decisions when working with MADM matrixes; hence to highlight opportunities for improvement, recombination and refinement
Digital servitization and competence development: A case-study research
No full textExploiting new technologies, companies are increasingly improving their service offerings. This paper
aims at identifying the pathways that companies are undertaking in the digital servitization and
recognize what are the competences relevant for the development and management of new service
offerings based on Industry 4.0 technologies. Through the development of a conceptual model and a
multiple case-study, the digital servitization journeys of eight industrial companies and the related
competences are discussed, suggesting that various categories of competences enable different digital
servitization paths, but proper combination of technical, methodological, personal and social skills, is
required to succeed in the digital servitizatio
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