At the origins of Product Service Systems: Supporting the concept assessment with the Engineering Value Assessment method

At the origins of Product Service Systems: Supporting the concept assessment with the Engineering Value Assessment method

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the economic circumstances spur many companies inchanging their traditional product-oriented value proposition toward a more customisedand sustainable offer referredas Product-Service Systems(PSS). The main advantages of the new solutions are related to their customisationwhich cangrant an improved customer experience. However, while pursuing greater differentiation from competitors and ‘locking-in’ customers and ‘locking-out’ competitors, many of the above-citedcompanies either miss interesting business opportunities or bet on the wrong solution concept. Early stage engineering phase plays a crucial role concerningthe subsequentlifecycle 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-criteriadecision-makingmethods with specific criteria foracomprehensive value assessment of PSS from both the customers’ and the provider’s perspectives. The EVA also guides the identification of trade-offbetween the two through the Importance-PerformanceAnalysis. Verificationactivities in the power and automation industry highlight the main benefits andthe implications of the EVA method in guiding the decision making in the earlystages 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.

KEYWORDS

PSS value; early design; IPA, TOPSIS; customer value; provider value; assessment criteria; assessment factors.

CITATION

Rondini, A., Bertoni, M., & Pezzotta, G. (2018) At the origins of Product-Service System: supporting the concept assessment with the EVA method, CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirpj.2018.08.002

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