Integrated product service offerings – Challenges in setting requirements

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to explore what challenges exist when setting requirements for an Integrated Product Service Offering (IPSO). An IPSO, sometimes called Product Service System, is a concept with increased interest from manufacturing companies. It consists of a combination of products and services that, based on a life cycle perspective, have been integrated to fit targeted customer needs. In order to achieve a successful IPSO, it is important to collect aspects from many actors, something which sometimes is challenging for companies moving towards providing IPSOs.The four challenges found when setting requirements in IPSO development are; identification and inclusion of relevant aspects from relevant actors throughout the IPSO’s life cycle, understanding of the underlying aspects for all requirements for all elements of the offering, prioritization of requirements, and the difficulty to track how requirements affect each other between different elements in the IPSO.The methodology used to find these challenges was a combination of a structured literature review and an interview study at three manufacturing companies moving towards providing IPSOs.