Asset Management Framework and Tools for Facing Challenges in the Adoption of Product-Service Systems

Abstract

Servitization is recognized as a key business strategy for original equipment manufacturers willing to move up the value chain. However, several barriers have to be overcome in order to successfully integrate products and services. Many of these barriers are caused by the technical challenges associated with the design and management of the product-service systems (PSSs), such as life cycle service level and cost estimation, risk management, or the system design and pricing. Asset management (AM) presents itself as a key research area in order to overcome these barriers as well as to integrate PSSs within the manufacturers’ operations management. It is the scope of this article to provide theoretical and practical insights with regards to the alignment of AM and PSS research areas. To support the alignment between both areas, a management framework which gathers specific technologies, including reliability analysis, simulation modeling, and multiobjective optimization algorithms, is presented. The purpose of the framework is to provide manufacturers with a decision-support tool that facilitates the main managerial challenges faced when implementing a servitization strategy. The article contributions are successfully applied to case studies in the railway and wind energy sectors based on real field data, thereby demonstrating their suitability for both facilitating manufacturer’s decision-making process and better satisfying stakeholders’ interests.