Product-service System Approach Research Articles

IMPROVING PATIENT EXPERIENCE: IMPLEMENTATION OF A PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM WITH ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT

This research paper investigates applying a product-service system (PSS) approach in Guru Singa Alternative Treatment to enhance the patient experience and add value to their services. The study comprises three key steps: determining the quadrant position of the products/services, selecting alternative PSS quadrants, and identifying needs and resources. Analysis of a questionnaire and insights from the owner revealed that Guru Singa Alternative Treatment falls under the quadrant of Service Providing.. To address these needs, we propose two solutions. Firstly, a free consultation program is recommended, providing patients expert guidance and support during treatment and recovery. Additionally, educational initiatives will promote bone health and injury prevention. Secondly, an integrated recovery and rehabilitation program is suggested for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and psychological counseling. This research contributes to developing effective fracture recovery practices and improved patient care in alternative treatment facilities. Adopting the PSS approach offers promising opportunities for innovation and advancing healthcare quality in alternative treatments

Case Study Research to Foster the Optimization of Supply Chain Management through the PSS Approach

The optimization of a product’s whole life cycle has become a mandatory task for manufacturers seeking to deal with circular economy requirements while gaining competitiveness in the market. In order to achieve such a sustainability goal, alignment of production, distribution, and field service activities is needed. In the literature, numerous studies indicate the product–service system (PSS) approach as one of the most promising business models to combine the needs of manufacturers and customers in an efficient and effective manner. However, PSS solutions aimed at practically optimizing supply chain management have scarcely been addressed. In order to reduce this gap, the current study proposes a procedure based on the PSS Functional Matrix, the Screening Life Cycle Modelling (SLCM) method, and stock management theory to optimize aftermarket services based on market demand. A case study in the medical equipment sector, where market demand can fluctuate during the contract period, is presented. The analytical results show beneficial effects in terms of both costs and environmental impact, suggesting the need for further research to augment knowledge on PSS and supply chain management. In particular, the PSS allowed the company to customize the manufacturer’s business model, adapting the supply of aftermarket services to varying customer needs.

Towards territorial product-service systems: A framework linking resources, networks and value creation

While many models for sustainable product-service systems (PSS) integrate the multi-actor perspective, few provide insights on how the territory in which actors implement the system influences its sustainability. This paper explores the implementation of a territorial PSS at a city or regional scale as a means to structuring value networks and enhancing its sustainability potential. The research combines a multidisciplinary literature review with two exploratory sustainable PSS cases in packaging and cloth baby diapers. The paper proposes a framework explaining how sustainable PSS providers develop territorial networks that consider a diversity of actors from civil, industrial, and public spheres to mobilize resources for value creation at organizational, network, and territorial levels. It identifies contextual factors, such as proximity, social embeddedness of relations, and the visions that influence the consolidation and sustainability of the territorial PSS networks. The empirical cases show the development of territorial networks enhances embed social relations among actors and enables the sustainable PSS concept to adapt to locally articulated sustainability principles and priorities. The paper discusses the implications of this approach for PSS for sustainability managers and designers. The study fills a gap by showing the importance of integrating a diversity of territorial actors as a pre-condition for PSS to contribute to the sustainability transitions and resilience of territories. Future research may validate the proposed framework and focus on identifying opportunities and barriers for the territorial PSS approach in different contexts such as industries and company sizes.

Sustainable Product-Service Systems Customization: A Case Study Research in the Medical Equipment Sector

The paper proposes a Product-Service System (PSS) methodology for customizing solutions to different patterns of use while achieving a better environmental performance than a stand-alone product. The approach is based on combining the Quality Function Deployment for Product-Service Systems (QFDforPSS) and the Screening Life Cycle Modeling (SLCM) tools. QFDforPSS is augmented by the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) to reduce service-related ambiguities and uncertainties on the one hand and better define the product and service characteristics of the solution on the other. The SLCM evaluates the possible outcomes by determining the environmental impact and comparing it with the manufacturer’s current solution. A case study at a manufacturer of medical diagnostic equipment illustrates the use of the approach depicting the possible benefits that can arise: the PSS solution can be customized to fit customers who intensively use the product and consumers with a more moderate use. This offers flexibility and an optimized life cycle through easier maintenance, upgrades, and end-of-life schemes. Concretely, it shows how the PSS approach can enhance the development of sustainable solutions that can be adapted to varying and future customer needs, such as adjusting current solutions to new requirements, i.e., adapting existing products to COVID-19 detection and different levels of use.

Design and manufacturing of a smart mobility platform’s context awareness and path planning module: A PSS approach

A smart mobility platform aiding in guidance of disabled people is a concept that can facilitate people’s everyday life. However, design and manufacturing of such a system faces many issues in terms of agility in design, implementation and usability verification. To this end, the concept of Product-Service System (PSS) seems to be the solution; being an emerging concept oriented towards the dematerialisation of the economy, meeting also the requirement of manufacturing industries to cope with the radical changes in the global market. In this study, the development of a context awareness and path planning system under the prism of PSSs is examined. This module is considered to be promoted as a pay per service unit that can be implemented in different operational scenarios and environments. The key objective is to deliver the obstacle avoidance and path planning functionality and add value to the customer, but at the same keep the production lean and flexible. To this end, Round Robin parts are presented, taking into account mounts and jigs for controllers dealing with supervised machine learning techniques and path planning, light-weight system-of-sensors and structural integrity of the module. The concept evaluation is outlined through a case study based on the integration of the system in a smart mobility platform to provide autonomous mobility. The mobility platform is expected to operate within a predefined area, characterized by a complex environment.

Co-creating product-service-system with and for the ageing society in different socio cultural contexts

This paper reports on an empirical study about how designers and design researchers applied a co-creation method to generate product-service-system (PSS) concepts in multi-stakeholder teams, to promote physical activities for elderly people in an EU project. This method is developed based on the Value Design method. The value design method consists of a workshop process and a set of generative research tools to support the value creation process. By analysing the workshop process, results from the end user value creating process, the stakeholder value creating process and the encounter process, this paper demonstrates how designers can use such a co-creation process together with the created generative research tools to enable the value creation for the purpose of adopting the PSS approach by the stakeholders and the end users. The results also showed that different social cultural contexts related to the field of interest determined the stakeholder network construction.

Exploring the Benefits of Productization in the Utilities Sector

The adoption of Product–Service Systems (PSS) in a business strategy is often mainly associated with the servitization process, where a service component is added to the product component in order to improve the value proposition of the company and better satisfy the customer’s needs. The productization phenomenon is far less studied in literature, but growingly prominent in today’s market. In particular, companies in the utilities sector have been exploring the potentialities of productization and proposing new business models for improving their offer to the customers, in order to be more and more competitive on the market. In this paper, we provide a first analysis and classification of productization strategies in the utilities sector, starting from experiences in the Italian market, with the aim of understanding which can be the main benefits of a PSS approach in this field, considering the effects on the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social).

A BIM-based PSS Approach for the Management of Maintenance Operations of Building Equipment

The service-centered economy has grown considerably in the last few years, shifting from product-based solutions towards service centered offerings, i.e., Product-Service System (PSS) solutions. Such an approach is also emerging in the context of building equipment, where maintenance activities play a fundamental role in facility management. In this field, Building Information Modeling (BIM) based tools are diffusely used to improve the performances of facility management. However, few studies have addressed the above issues while considering a shift from product-based approaches in favor of more advanced servitization models. The study aims at integrating BIM based approaches in a PSS context for the improvement of the management of maintenance operations of building equipment. A general framework for maintenance management has been developed, merging the implementation of the PSS components in a BIM model for the definition of maintenance management. A first application of this methodology to a real case study concerning the elevators of an existing building has shown the efficacy of the proposed approach. The study highlighted the benefits that can be achieved, especially in terms of reduced periods of equipment unavailability, reduced costs and augmented customer satisfaction, while enhancing the information exchange between the PSS actors. Hence, although further research is still needed for its validation, the proposed approach can offer practical insights for the development of promising BIM-based PSS solutions for facility management in the construction industry.

Framework for managing the operations and maintenance of wind farms

The operations and maintenance of a wind farm constitutes a considerable source of expenditures therefore a holistic framework is herein presented aiming at optimising their management. The principles upon which the framework was developed belongs to the asset management discipline oriented towards the wind energy sector. Besides, it is understood from a cross functional perspective which also embraces information management and business aspects. The framework comprehends different modules conceived with the following purposes: (i) creation of an integral and comprehensive failure database, (ii) modelling of the wind turbines’ reliability taking into account their operational context and (iii) defining of maintenance strategy within a life-cycle perspective. The practical aspects of the framework are demonstrated through a case study based on real-field data from the sector. Furthermore, the present research sets the foundation to consider all the proposed algorithms, processes and techniques within a Product-Service System approach, which entails important benefits for the OEMs an for the operators.

Balancing Frontliners’ Customer- and Coworker-Directed Behaviors When Serving Business Customers

In this digital era, where many product-oriented business-to-business companies are shifting to a product-service systems approach, frontline employees (FLEs) are urged to complement customer-directed behaviors with coworker-directed prosocial behaviors to achieve optimal performance. Surprisingly, little is known about the relationship between FLEs’ coworker-directed and customer-directed behaviors in product-service systems settings. This research addresses this void and serves two purposes. First, drawing on role balance theory, the authors develop and test a model of an FLE’s relative emphasis on serving coworkers (i.e., helping) relative to the emphasis on serving business customers (i.e., proactive selling) as well as the antecedents and consequences of customer-coworker (im)balance. Second, the authors propose that managers can influence antecedents and consequences through an incentive system and access to information sources, respectively. Multivariate time-lagged analyses using survey and secondary performance data reveal that customer-coworker balance is beneficial for an FLE’s performance, especially when leveraging their coworkers as a prime information source. Interestingly, the increasingly damaging impact of an imbalance toward customer-directed behaviors can be countered by using the information technology (IT) system. Also of interest is that managers can correct imbalance—caused by either work group identification or expected customer demand—via individual-based incentives.

Prioritizing customer requirements in a product-service system (PSS) context

PurposeProduct-service systems (PSSs)’s popularity has expanded significantly throughout recent years. The purpose of this paper is to integrate products and services to achieve functional results that augment the offering’s value. Nevertheless, the intangibility of services hinders the diffusion of PSSs: services are characterized by imprecisions and ambiguities that render the assessment and prioritization of customer requirements problematic. An inadequate evaluation of the latter leads to an inconsistent PSS design that results in the customer dissatisfaction.Design/methodology/approachTo address these concerns, the paper proposes an approach integrating the quality function deployment for product-service systems (QFDforPSS) method with Thurstone’s Law of Comparative Judgments. This approach was tested at a manufacturer in the medical sector seeking to improve his market stance through a PSS model.FindingsAlthough the case study is based on a limited sample, the results achieved highlight the importance of the flow of information between the PSS provider and the customers (i.e. the PSS receivers) in the healthcare sector. The proposed approach can facilitate the company in collecting information even in the case of incomplete answers to surveys and questionnaires providing a practical method to handle the uncertainty due to incomplete data.Originality/valueThe study represents one of the first applications of the PSS approach in the healthcare sector, introducing a novel integration of easy-to-use management tools to augment the understanding of customer needs and expectations.

Product service-systems implementation: A customized framework to enhance sustainability and customer satisfaction

Abstract New trends in product development aim at integrating the improvement of all activities related to the products’ life-cycle, particularly when considering environmental issues. Within this context, Product-Service System (PSS) appears as a promising model, representing a win-win solution for both companies and customers. In particular, the medical devices industry is a sector where the PSS approach can assume a key role. However, despite the potential benefits deriving from the implementation of PSS solutions, few studies on PSS consider this sector. To accomplish this, the paper proposes a methodology based on the analysis of the market demand and customers’ needs by means of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method, and the simulation of life-cycle scenarios through the Screening Life Cycle Modelling (SLCM) method supported by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) tools. A case study performed in collaboration with a manufacturer of biomedical devices showed the benefits of the proposed methodology in the development of sustainable PSS solutions. Actually, the results demonstrate the validity of such an approach in enhancing customer satisfaction, while reducing environmental concerns and costs.

The rationale of PSS as an inspiration for Synthetic Environments

The use of a Synthetic Environment (SE) in product development cycles is increasing, and the number of potential use situations is expanding. However, predicting the best fitting SE configuration is still mainly based on experience. Proper use of a SE benefits from a product-service system approach, but currently available and developed SEs are often predefined (and rigid) instantiations thereof. Representing SEs as a product-service system is not yet common; the development of new technology is often focused on a predefined set of requirements for a hardware device or a software solution, while the connecting interface is no part of the development. Based on the rationale of product-service systems, more flexibility and robustness in the development and use of Synthetic Environments is explored.The mutual relations between PSS and SE are the basis for the realization of an overview that provides insight in the dependencies between individual parts of a single system and between complete systems. By making a distinction between the behavior of the system as encountered by the user, and the embedded behavior of the system internally, a different approach for realizing SEs is explained. This approach is not only based on the combination of a product and a service, but also includes experience. This Product Service Experience (PSE) is the foundation for utilizing the rational of PSS in SEs.

Considerations for an Access-Centered Design of the Fever Thermometer in Low-Resource Settings: A Literature Review

BackgroundThe lack of adequate information about fever in low-resource settings, its unreliable self-assessment, and poor diagnostic practices may result in delayed care and under-or-overdiagnosis of diseases such as malaria. The mismatches of existing fever thermometers in the context of use imply that the diagnostic tools and connected services need to be studied further to address the challenges of fever-related illnesses and their diagnostics.ObjectiveThis study aims to inform a product-service system approach to design a reliable and accessible fever thermometer and connected services, as well as contribute to the identification of innovative opportunities to improve health care in low-resource settings.MethodsTo determine what factors impede febrile people seeking health care to access adequate fever diagnostics, a literature search was conducted in Google Scholar and PubMed with relevant keywords. Next, these factors were combined with a patient journey model to design a new product-service system for fever diagnostics in low-resource settings.ResultsIn total, 37 articles were reviewed. The five As framework was used to categorize the identified barriers. The results indicate that there is a poor distribution of reliable fever diagnostic practices among remote communities. This paper speaks to the global public health and design communities. Three complementary considerations are discussed that support the idea of a more holistic approach to the design of fever diagnostics: (1) understanding of the fever diagnostics patient journey, (2) identifying user groups of the thermometers in a specific health care system, and (3) assessing different needs and interests of the different users.ConclusionsAccess to basic, primary health care may be enhanced with better information and technology design made through the involvement of system users.

Simulation of Product-Service-Systems Piloting with Agent-Based Models (Outlined Revision)

Product-service systems (PSS) can improve sustainability in terms of responsibility of providers and intensified customer-provider relationships. Therefore, a PSS approach has been applied on the distribution of solar home systems in rural areas of emerging countries to improve quality and increase confidence in this technology. However, many innovative projects fail at the piloting stage because of insufficient validation before implementation. Validation methods for PSS like an integrated gap model (e.g. identification of gaps between deliverables and customers expectations) or interdisciplinary design reviews show its limits on the interdependences between product and service development. A new approach to test PSS involves agent-based simulation models and is presented within this paper. Among system dynamics and discrete event simulation, an agent-based simulation is able to work with less quantitative data and a more detailed view on individual entities than the alternative approaches. Thus, it is possible to create more realistic simulation models to validate especially resource planning of a PSS. Agent-based simulation is used within the MEVIS (Micro Energy Supply Information System) project to model a network of solar home systems which are controlled by remote monitoring in order to improve service processes, e. g. maintenance and repair operations. The pilot test should be carried out efficiently by the preceding virtual validation in the form of a simulation, which is built in NetLogo, a tool that enables modeling of a multi-agent environment. Within this environment, communicating technical artifacts as well as different groups of actors are mapped as agents. As a result, diagrams of relevant parameters like the overall repair costs or the estimated customer's satisfaction are displayed and the resource planning is visually supported. This helps to push a PSS into a new market, where you have to deal with existing resources that must be used efficiently. The contributions in this paper provide the conception and an exemplary presentation of the simulation run.

Development of a PSS-oriented Business Model for Customized Production in Healthcare

In recent years Mass Customization has been considered as a proper strategy to provide customers with individualized products with a reasonable price. Meanwhile, the trends of aging population and rapid technological evolution have initiated the interest of healthcare sector to production of customized medical devices. Pursuit of such a strategy can result in introduction of manufacturing operations of customized medical devices inside the hospitals. To this end, an innovative business model is required to facilitate and support such a shift by focusing on both product and service perspectives and hence taking into account an integrated product-service system approach. This paper aims at introducing a PSS-oriented business model to support customized production by hospitals. Moreover, a qualitative analysis of pros and cons of each business model configuration is presented in the paper. Eventually, considering each configuration along with its benefits and challenges, the hospital selects the most proper business model base on its strategy and long-term oriented objectives.

A product-service system approach to telehealth application design.

A considerable proportion of current point-of-care devices do not offer a wide enough set of capabilities if they are to function in any telehealth system. There is a need for intermediate devices that lie between healthcare devices and service networks. The development of an application is suggested that allows for a smartphone to take the role of an intermediate device. This research seeks to identify the telehealth service requirements for long-term condition management using a product-service system approach. The use of product-service system has proven to be a suitable methodology for the design and development of telehealth smartphone applications.

Advanced Maintenance Services for Promoting Sustainability

Ecology and industry, which have been many times considered as antagonists, are now associated together in the sustainability concept to support the three social / economic / environment pillars. In that way, industrial enterprises and more precisely manufacturing ones seek to integrate environment into their strategy by conducting an innovative rationalization of the production as promoted by industrial ecology and circular economy paradigms. This rationalization is favoring the evolution from product to a Product-Service Systems approach (PSS). The continuity of these services is mainly carried out by the maintenance which is no longer an aftermarket service needed for product (system) functionality but rather an inherent service function of the product (system). Thus this paper aims to investigate the role of maintenance to contribute to the development of these paradigms. It is based first on describing the main features of industrial ecology/circular economy transposing the nature concepts to industrial system. It leads to define key principles and levers to be addressed for the development of industrial ecosystems. Then maintenance activity is globally presented allowing, in a second step, to place maintenance services already existing in line with some of these principles and levers (ex. green maintenance), but also to explore advanced maintenance services more able to support promotion of industrial ecosystem by covering others principles and levers. These advanced services can be built from conventional maintenance processes but integrating sustainability goal (ex. prognostics of energy efficiency) or from innovative processes (ex. regenerative management). Finally scientific issues related to these advanced maintenance services are underlining and should concretize future research directions for researchers/practitioners working on maintenance field.

To Own or to Use? How Product Service Systems Facilitate Eco-Innovation Behavior

Increasingly firms develop technology-based sharing approaches where users rent, lease and share products, instead of purchasing them. Particularly, the product service system (PSS) concept has recently caught attention by scholars from different disciplines, although surprisingly little from the innovation research community. The writings from our colleagues however lead us to suspect that PSS developing firms might pursue an innovation behavior that is much more in line with recent societal demands for reducing environmental externalities. Recent examples show that adopting the PSS approach could be a way even for profit-driven firms towards a more sustainable economy, actually without too much governmental intervention.However, to our knowledge this argument has yet been hardly discussed in detail. Drawing on concepts from the innovation management literature as well as from environmental management research, we contribute a model that explains why the PSS approach can shift firm innovation behavior towards generating fewer environmental externalities. This model links firm innovation behavior to three antecedents, including two product related characteristics (ownership, product purpose) and the specifics of the PSS related profit function. We argue that these antecedents differ whether firms develop products or PSSs. In the latter case the antecedent specifications impact firms’ R&D objectives in a way that creates incentives to follow innovation trajectories that lead to a reduction of environmental externalities (i.e., eco-innovation behavior).

To own or to use? How product service systems facilitate eco-innovation behavior

Increasingly firms develop technology based sharing approaches where users rent, lease and share products, instead of purchasing them. Particularly, the product service system (PSS) concept has recently caught attention by scholars from different disciplines, although surprisingly little from the innovation research community. The writings from our colleagues however lead us to suspect that PSS developing firms might pursue an innovation behavior that is much more in line with recent societal demands for reducing environmental externalities. Recent examples show that adopting the PSS approach could be a way even for profit-driven firms towards a more sustainable economy, actually without too much governmental intervention. However, to our knowledge this argument has yet been hardly discussed in detail. Drawing on concepts from the innovation management literature as well as from environmental management research, we contribute a model that explains why the PSS approach can shift firm innovation behavior towards generating fewer environmental externalities. This model links firm innovation behavior to three antecedents, including two product related characteristics (ownership, product purpose) and the specifics of the PSS related profit function. We argue that these antecedents differ whether firms develop products or PSSs. In the latter case the antecedent specifications impact firms’ R&D objectives in a way that creates incentives to follow innovation trajectories that lead to a reduction of environmental externalities (i.e., eco-innovation behavior).