IT Support in the Fuzzy Front End of Industrial Product Service Design

Abstract

The necessity for manufacturing equipment producers of providing Industrial Product Service Systems (IPS2) as opposed to selling sole products is well-known. Reasons for focusing on increased customer value are the long-term customer retention and high flexibility throughout the entire lifecycle. This kind of customization creates a win-win situation for both, customers and providers.However, the establishment of integrated development tools to design these holistic solutions is still sparse. Reasons for this are the multiple viewpoints, models and methods which are relevant for a holistic design. An IPS2 compromises different actors, organizations, objects and processes. It is required to fulfill specific customer needs which go beyond the core competences of one single provider. Furthermore, the business model, customer-provider networks and organizational boundary conditions have a higher influence on solution properties than they have in design processes for traditional products.In this context, specific focus must be put on early design stages. Key properties of the design solution and its architecture are determined in line with cooperation networks in this crucial design phase. Presently, numerous specific methods and tools are provided to support systematic development, yet without the possibility of using them in an integrated environment. Therefore, a method base is required which includes these different methods. Furthermore, this method base has to provide possibilities of connecting data models of different tools in order to create holistic descriptions of IPS2.This paper describes one such method base, that of IT based Product-Service Innovation. Within this framework single developers as well as development teams are guided to a value oriented design process. Within this framework a concept for the integration of different methodological IPS2 design approaches is presented. It is based on the principles of situative method engineering and enables the integrated method application for specific design issues in early design phases of these systems.