141 research outputs found
DIGITALLY-ENABLED ADVANCED SERVICES: MANAGING THE JOURNEY FROM DATA TO VALUE
Purpose: this paper proposes a novel model to describe how data collected from smart connected
products(SCP) should be managed to generate customer value through digitally-enabled advanced
services (DEAS).
Design/Methodology/Approach: literature integrative review and action research
Findings: there are connections between the configuration of the service system designed to deliver
DEAS, and the value (net benefits in terms of efficiency, efficacy and focus) that different customers
expect.
Originality/Value: the integration of literature on SCP, smart PSS, service science and sdl facilitates
the understanding of mechanisms through which DEAS create customer value
Modern Industrial Services
This open access book is an outcome of several years of research, practice, and teaching experience of the authors on the challenges that underpin the successful switch to services for manufacturing firms. Ideal for a student as well as a practitioner, the book describes the industrial services ecosystem, the barriers and challenges, and a roadmap for building service excellence. Curated cases are used to describe the current approaches in practice to overcome the barriers. The book also provides several tools, each with a short introduction, that the authors have used successfully in projects to help overcome the servitization barriers. Many of these tools are from management, design thinking, or service design. The service excellence roadmap is based on the development methodology and helps current and future business leaders to create their own individual roadmaps
Are digital servitization-based Circular Economy business models sustainable? A systemic what-if simulation model
Manufacturing companies are struggling with the implementation of Circular Economy, especially due to the uncertainty regarding its potential sustainability benefits. In particular, and despite digital servitization is advocated by several studies as a way to achieve environmental gains, circular business models based on digital servitization are not always sustainable due to burden shifting and unexpected consequences which are difficult to assess before implementation. This is particularly relevant for the Electrical and Electronics Equipment industry, which suffers structural weaknesses such as the dependance on critical raw materials and an increasing waste generation. However, literature lacks models and tools able to address the complexity inherent in the systemic micro-macro perspective envisioned by Circular Economy, while studies that quantitatively assess the sustainability impacts and trade-offs of digital servitization-based circular scenarios are limited. This article aims to develop a better understanding of how the sustainability impacts of circular and servitized scenarios can be assessed and quantified at the economic, environmental, and social level, adopting a systemic perspective through the development of a what-if simulation model. The model is implemented in a spreadsheet tool and applied to a digital servitization-based Circular Economy scenario inspired by the case of a company offering long-lasting, high-efficient washing machines as-a-service. Results show that digital servitization can actually lead to a win-win-win situation with net positive effects to the environment, the society, and the economy. This result is based on the joint application of product design for digitalization and life extension, pay-per-use business models, and product reuse. These results are robust within a significant range of key parameters values. Practitioners and policymakers may use the model to support the evaluation of different circular and servitized scenarios before implementation
Business Model Innovation: Process and Tools for Service Transformation of Industrial Firms
Abstract Nowadays a comprehensive transformation from traditional business models, based on the product sales, to new product-service systems (PSS) can be seen as an opportunity for industrial firms to gain revenues and new competitive advantage. Nevertheless manufacturers frequently fight with this innovation, as it requires fundamental changes in the structure, culture and competencies of the company. Rarely, industrial firms understand how they should reconfigure the elements of their business model (BM) in order to servitize. In addition, literature has only recently started to discuss PSS BM extensively and still gives little support to the decision-making process regarding the service transformation. To provide a first step into closing this gap, this paper proposes a new integrated multi-step methodology for the selection and design of the most appropriate PSS BM. In order to enable the application of the methodology to practical cases, a specific toolkit has been developed. An action research was then performed to illustrate an application of the framework in a capital goods manufacturer and provide research insights
From Ownership to Service-oriented Business Models: A Survey in Capital Goods Companies and a PSS Typology
AbstractThe evolution of capital goods companies towards a “service-oriented” business model is challenging and requires fundamental changes in the company. Main aims of this study, that is a part of a large research project, are to understand how business models of companies that operate in capital goods sector are configured and to identify different PSS types that can help companies to better understand the shifting toward a service-oriented business model. To achieve these results, we developed a framework, based on the Canvas model and carried out an exploratory survey among 95 European companies to understand the relevant issues that characterize business model configuration in servitization context
Exploring How Usage-Focused Business Models Enable Circular Economy through Digital Technologies
Recent studies advocate that digital technologies are key enabling factors for the
introduction of servitized business models. At the same time, these technologies support the
implementation of the circular economy (CE) paradigm into businesses. Despite this general
agreement, the literature still overlooks how digital technologies enable such a CE transition. To fill
the gap, this paper develops a conceptual framework, based on the literature and a case study of
a company implementing a usage-focused servitized business model in the household appliance
industry. This study focuses on the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and analytics, and identifies
eight specific functionalities enabled by such technologies (improving product design, attracting
target customers, monitoring and tracking product activity, providing technical support, providing
preventive and predictive maintenance, optimizing the product usage, upgrading the product,
enhancing renovation and end-of-life activities). By investigating how these functionalities affect
three CE value drivers (increasing resource efficiency, extending lifespan, and closing the loop),
the conceptual framework developed in this paper advances knowledge about the role of digital
technologies as an enabler of the CE within usage-focused business models. Finally, this study shows
how digital technologies help overcome the drawback of usage-focused business models for the
adoption of CE pointed out by previous literatur
The role of digital technologies to overcome Circular Economy challenges in PSS Business Models: an exploratory case study
Abstract Circular Economy has been usually indicated as a promising approach to promote economic development and sustainability. Despite this general agreement, the Circular Economy paradigm is still little adopted by companies, as they need to face several challenges. In this context, Product-Service Systems (PSS) Business Models play a major role, as they have been proposed as an opportunity for promoting sustainability. Today, digital technologies are seen as a key factor to enable PSS, allowing at the same time the introduction of Circular Economy into companies. However, little attention has been set on how new digital technologies can overcome in practice the main Circular Economy challenges. To fill this gap, this paper explores such a role through a case study of a company who leverages Internet of Things, Big Data and Analytics in the provision of its PSS Business Model. Based on the findings of the empirical investigation, the role that the selected digital technologies play in overcoming the Circular Economy challenges is presented and discussed
A European survey on capital goods manufacturers
New trends for capital goods manufacturers push towards selling the products usage or performance rather than the product itself. This evolution from traditional business models, based on the product sales, to new service-oriented business models (BMs), has received increasingly attention both in the academic and managerial community. Despite this, a limited application of service offerings has been observed in the capital goods sector. This article reports the results from a survey carried out during the T-REX project, funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme, and has two objectives: (a) to empirically investigate the way BMs of capital goods companies are configured and (b) to analyse the degree of service orientation of such BMs. Finally, the main challenges for practitioners emerged from the survey are discussed in this article, highlighting directions for future research
The Repair Kit Problem with positive replenishment lead times and fixed ordering costs
The Repair Kit Problem (RKP) concerns the determination of a set of items taken by a service engineer to perform on-site product support. Such a set is called a kit. Models developed in the literature have always ignored the lead times associated with delivering items to replenish the kit, thereby limiting the practical relevance of the proposed solutions. Motivated by a real life case, we develop a model with positive lead times to control the replenishment quantities of the items in the kit, and study the performance of (s, S) policies under a service objective. The choice for (s, S) policies is made in order to accommodate fixed ordering costs. We present a method to calculate job fill rates with exact expressions, and discuss a heuristic approach to optimize the reorder level and order-up-to level for each item in the kit. The empirical utility of the model is assessed on real world data from an equipment manufacturer and useful insights are offered to after-sales managers
- …