Considerations on Investment and Business Models

Abstract

Business models are evolving from selling products towards delivering outcome that may be measured as system performance, capacity, and availability. Novel business models may also include elements of sharing value. Machinery manufacturers and suppliers face a rapidly changing business environment and look for major growth in digital solutions, automation and services. The implementation of advanced technologies and business models call also for novel models of sharing risks and benefits. The literature review on advantages and disadvantages of various business models underlines the investment risk. Modelling of the cash flows of different business models provide examples for leveraging initial investments in assets when applying emerging technologies. The business partners also have to consider how their risk landscape changes and what are the preventable, strategy and external risks of the planned business model. The chosen business model poses requirements to the risk management process and highlights the importance of the collaboration and transparency. This paper focuses in the automation options in the transport sector and uses major port terminal as a case example, but the developed methods are applicable also in other capital intensive industries.