Changes in present product design — Opportunities for industrial oriented research

Abstract

The manufacturing industry applies approaches in early development stages, i.e. product design, that heavily relies on computer support. The concept of Knowledge Based Engineering systems could represent this approach. However an ongoing trend in manufacturing industry to increase the service contents in their offerings is commonly captured beneath the umbrella term Product-Service Systems (PSS). The paper discusses conceptual examples for changes in product design caused by this increased PSS focus. The examples given are brief descriptions of different demonstrators developed in research projects focusing on PSS and product development in early phases. Examples include a discussion how companies shift from single company to becoming inter-organizational partners, how intangible knowledge, and information in the design process can be made tangible and how companies and engineers shift focus from knowledge transfer to sharing experiences.