Introducing Product Service System Architectures for realizing Circular Economy

Abstract

Abstract Product-Service Systems (PSS) as well as modular products can act as an enabler for Circular Economy (CE). Products and services have to be developed concurrently in order to be attuned properly. In product design, developers have to fulfil various requirements such as functional and cost targets. Integrating requirements regarding CE and developing products and services simultaneously makes their task even more complex and challenging. In concept design, the outline or rough concept of the product is defined. In order to develop functional PSS and to integrate CE goals in the stage of concept design, the authors propose Integrated Product Service Systems Architectures (IPSSAs), which depict physical product architectures and services architectures in one integrated model. This paper presents first findings on how IPSSAs can be realized. An analysis of different modelling notations was conducted and an exemplary application on a use case was performed. The findings lead to further research steps on the path to a method for modularizing PSS for CE.