Two Major Challenges for Industrial Product-Service System Design

Abstract

An Industrial Product-Service System (iPS2) is a system that integrates products and services based on systems thinking in an industrial context. Compared with services alone, it creates opportunities for better economic and environmental outcomes because of the additional design parameters, i.e., product design, and the inter-dependency between the products and services: for instance, better product design has a potential to enlarge the solution space for effective services provided. However, designing and delivering outcome-based iPS2 is a highly challenging task, due to the increased complexity induced by systemic thinking. This contribution covers two major challenges for iPS2 design: overcoming knowledge fixations and managing uncertainty.