Exploring Servitization in Industrial Construction: A Sustainable Approach

Off-site manufacturing is emerging as an advantageous production model in the construction industry. In recent years, many tier 1 construction companies are including off-site production as part of their portfolio. Likewise, this change of model is attracting new entrants to the sector. The shift from the traditional on-site construction model to off-site manufacturing is unleashing positive impacts on projects in terms of cost, time efficiency, sustainability, and improved quality. Nonetheless, this phenomenon has yet to be analysed from the perspective of how this change in production processes influences the inclusion of services in company business models. This study explores whether and how industrialisation arises as an enabler for servitization in the construction sector. By means of an in-depth case study, our research identifies different product-service system (PSS) typologies associated with industrial construction and reveals their potential to increase additional services. Furthermore, the research sheds light on how industrial construction provides an opportunity to integrate offers and features that work towards reducing the environmental impact of construction projects and the operation and maintenance of built assets

The emergent role of digital technologies in the context of humanitarian supply chains: a systematic literature review

The role of digital technologies (DTs) in humanitarian supply chains (HSC) has become an increasingly researched topic in the operations literature. While numerous publications have dealt with this convergence, most studies have focused on examining the implementation of individual DTs within the HSC context, leaving relevant literature, to date, dispersed and fragmented. This study, through a systematic literature review of 110 articles on HSC published between 2015 and 2020, provides a unified overview of the current state-of-the-art DTs adopted in HSC operations. The literature review findings substantiate the growing significance of DTs within HSC, identifying their main objectives and application domains, as well as their deployment with respect to the different HSC phases (i.e., Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery). Furthermore, the findings also offer insight into how participant organizations might configure a technological portfolio aimed at overcoming operational difficulties in HSC endeavours. This work is novel as it differs from the existing traditional perspective on the role of individual technologies on HSC research by reviewing multiple DTs within the HSC domain

Unleashing the potential of digital twin in offering green services

Decarbonisation and the transition towards a sustainable economy are current challenges faced by many organisations belonging to industries that have zero carbon emission on their horizon. In this backdrop, orientation to services is playing a role in the creation of more sustainable business models. Nonetheless, definition, design, and effective development of green services are still an ongoing debate in the literature. On the other hand, new cross-field technologies are emerging as drivers in the transformation process for sustainability. In this vein, digital twin is already showing their potential on optimising processes and increase operational efficiency. Despite the growing number of articles in digital twin, research on how this technology can underpin services and enable sustainable practices is still scarce and fragmented. This extended abstract contextualises and describes an ongoing research project aiming to shed light on the role of digital twin in enabling green services. The research work in progress, by means of systematic literature review combined with benchmarking analysis, is portraying the state of art and current cross-sector best practices for the development of green services facilitated by digital twin. In a second step, building on the insights deduced from the systematic review, a panel of experts will be interviewed with the object to identify current and future perspectives on the use of digital twin in the service context and define a framework of the key socio-technical factors to be considered in digital twin-enabled green services to succeed. This expected framework could guide both practitioners and researchers in the better design and development of green services by using digital twin