Service Production Systems Research Articles

The integration of the business model canvas and the service blueprinting to assist the conceptual design of new product-service systems

The capacity to guide the evolution and creation of new products (manufactured goods or services) is crucial for the enterprise's profitability. Hence, enterprises have acquired the capacity to manage the future of their product portfolio. However, companies that offer a combination of manufactured goods and services as an integrated system or a Product-Service System confront challenging conditions to maintain or increase their market share due to the complex relationship between manufacturing and service production systems. The complexity of a PSS makes it challenging to adapt its physical products to new customer requirements, satisfy new standards, or develop/adopt new technologies because any modification in one part of the system will undoubtedly affect the other. Therefore, it is necessary to propose an approach for managing the development process of a PSS from a broad perspective. The approach presented in this article combines the advantages of the Business Model Canvas to define the crucial functions of a business model with the service blueprinting capacity to represent service processes. The proposal describes a five stages methodology: Conceptualization, Business Model Design, Product-Service System (PSS) Scenarios, Blueprint design, and Validation. The methodology helps the analysis of a PSS from three perspectives: product, use, and result, which are the typical PSS scenarios. A case study applied to a company that distributes purified water is helpful to illustrate the methodology. Finally, the methodology includes some aspects that favor implementing creative and dynamic business models, emphasizing the constant changes in the evolution of products and services.

Development of a simulative approach in order to estimate the impact of smart services on a production system

The increasing digitalisation and development of the fourth industrial revolution have created new opportunities in the B2B manufacturing industry. These opportunities come in the form of smart services, which are made possible by the interconnectedness of machines and products and the collection and analysis of data. However, there is uncertainty among potential users about the benefits of these smart services for their production systems. This paper aims to address this uncertainty by developing a simulation model that quantifies the impact of a smart service on a production system, using monetary benefit as a key performance indicator. To do so, the influence of a smart service on a production system is analysed and a generic production system model is developed. The generic model can then be used to analyse different smart service configurations and production systems to examine the effect of the smart service. This is demonstrated through the application of the simulation method to a use case studying the benefit of intelligent quality control and predictive maintenance.

Hospital Management of the Eastern Mexico Regional Administrative Operating Body in the Sars-Cov-2 Pandemic: Technical Efficiency

Introduction: In the face of the new health emergency due to SARS-COV-2, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) Spanish acronym, implements the Institutional Strategic Plan for Contingency Care due to COVID-19, which defines the modes of action in preparation and response in the presence and sustained SARS-COV-2 disease transmission cases Data envelopment analysis makes it possible to estimate the technical efficiency of service production systems. Objective: to estimate the technical efficiency of the hospital units of the Eastern Mexico State Regional Decentralized Administrative Operation Body of the IMSS (Spanish acronym) in the response to the SARS-COV-2 health contingency from March 2020 to March 2021. Methods: The COOPER Methodological Ordering was applied to define the input-oriented BCC model and estimate the hospitals’ technical efficiency in the treatment response of COVID-19 during 1st and 2nd periods of highest incidence. Inputs: Hospitalized and Covid-19 beds. Outputs: improvement/death ratio. Results: in the study period, 30,656 were hospitalized and 1,324 Covid-19 beds were managed in 10 hospitals. Improvement 15,067; death 15,589 (improvement/death ratio: 0.97). Average technical efficiency: 82%. Conclusions: 8 of 10 hospitals in technical efficiency. Data envelopment analysis enables health managers to estimate the production capacity of health services and decision-making in the event of a public health emergency.

Artificial Intelligence Trends and Applications in Service Systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly adopted in service production systems [...]

A control algorithm for a non-stationary batch service production system using Kalman filter

This paper presents a dynamically optimized control algorithm for a fully automated batch service production process, with non-stationary nature of order arrivals. The problem of interest is a non-stationary SELSP, i.e., stochastic economic lot sizing problem, with erratic order flow, where the objective is to continuously optimize the production lot size according to the real-time detection of demand fluctuations. Such a problem has a dual nature of being a planning problem, which used to be dealt with within the operational research (OR) community and a control problem, often dealt with within the control theory (CT) circle.To tackle the problem a Kalman Filter (KF) based approach has been employed, as one of the most reliable methods in CT, with an edge over its previously studied alternatives, i.e., Exponential Filter (EF) and its fuzzified version. It is illustrated that the adopted KF performs much better both in terms of efficiency metrics of OR, and responsiveness metrics of CT. The results advocate that the new generation of automated production planning and control systems may benefit from the concepts and methods from both communities of OR and CT, in an integrated fashion.

The Impact of Service Employees and Servicescape on Customers’ Perception of Quality Improvement Efforts

The present study contributes to the understanding of the influence of service employees and the tangible components of the service production and delivery system on perceptions of quality improvement efforts in a service organization. A hierarchical multiple regression with interaction analysis was performed on data collected from a convenience sample of 435 respondents in a higher education institution to assess the main effect of service employees and servicescape, as well as their interactive effect, on customers’ perception of the institution’s quality improvement efforts. The results show a significant effect of service employees, servicescape as well as the interaction between service employees and servicescape in their influence on customers’ perception of quality improvement efforts. The results also reveal that the servicescape intervenes as a moderator variable in the relationship between service employees and quality improvement efforts. Service organizations should therefore focus on the crucial role of service employees during the service encounter and recognize the importance of the servicescape, in view of increasing customers’ favourable perceptions towards the service organisation’s capability to provide better quality in order to satisfy their needs. The study has limited generalization given the convenience sample and the great variety of service industries. It would be helpful to realize similar studies in other service settings and to explore the exact nature of the interaction between service employees and servicescape. Keywords: Service employees, servicescape, quality improvement efforts

Transformation of High-Tech Distinctive Competencies through International Joint Ventures: A Case Study in the Saudi Petrochemical Industry

In the present era of globalization, every business entity in developed and developing economies are relying on technology to advance its production or service processes. The technological race is revolutionizing the aspects of product or service production system even most business organizations may not typically consider high-tech operations. Although technology-oriented organizations may produce very different products or services to sustain their differentiation and leadership in the market. These organizations when developing their business model and strategies may have more emphasis to build their high-tech capacity to sustain their position in the competitive market, particularly in the Saudi-based petrochemical industry. For this purpose, Saudi-based organizations attempt to obtain high-tech distinctive competencies across their national border by using the option of international joint ventures. These choices may allow them and partner firms to take advantage of national differences in terms of cost and quality factors of production such as labor, energy, land, and capital, which permits these organizations to lower their cost structures and boost oval profitability.

Exploring Opportunities for Artificial Emotional Intelligence in Service Production Systems

This paper offers an exploratory view about opportunities for the integration of Artificial Emotional Intelligence (AEI) in service production systems. Service systems are conceptualized as increasingly digitalized and networked co-production environments where employees, customers and technology engage in rich interactions to deploy outputs and create value. The study builds on a systematic literature review to identify three dimensions of application of AEI for improving service efficiency and reliability, namely to augment, to assist and to mimic customer and/or providers production capabilities. The paper offers a contribution to promoting the dialogue between the knowledge domains of service systems and AEI.

Job Satisfaction among Library Professionals Working In University Libraries of Odisha: A Case Study

Job satisfaction of employees, in general, is considered to be significant when an organization wants to achieve user’s satisfaction. Academic libraries are non-profit oriented service production systems. The digital technology orientation in academic libraries has thrown more challenges to the library professionals rather than to the users who at times outwit the library professionals. The social pressure from the users and online document pressure has put the library professionals in stress. The extent of job satisfaction may differ individually according to age, educational qualification, experience, and marital status. The results revealed by the study that responding to library professionals working in academic institutions in the Madurai district were found to have their job satisfaction at varying degrees.

The ENBIS‐17 Quality and Reliability Engineering International Special Issue

The ENBIS‐17 Quality and Reliability Engineering International Special Issue

The megaclass as a service production system and the challenge of facilitating its continuous quality improvement: Towards a research agenda in a complex domain

AbstractThis paper aims to fill a gap in the literature on continuous quality improvement in higher education, regarding factors that may contribute to the effectiveness of megaclasses. We argue for the need to view megaclasses as a complex service production system, using introductory statistics classes as an example. Given the multiple virtual and tangible factors and processes and diverse learning communities involved in the megaclass, we believe that there is a need to better understand both its academic learning outcomes (ie, formation of knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs) and outcomes of service processes (ie, satisfaction levels of stakeholders and service metrics). We propose directions for a research agenda in this rapidly developing arena, using a model of 6 research areas influencing the above outcomes: (1) teaching methods; (2) cognition, learning, and assessment; (3) emotions, attitudes, and beliefs; (4) self‐management and metacognition; (5) social interaction and inquiry patterns; and (6) technology‐based interactions. We examine 7 traditional and emerging research methods that may jointly contribute to a better understanding of outcomes in megaclasses and Massive Open Online Classes and discuss their implications.

The Combined Effects of Service Offering and Service Employees on the Perceived Corporate Reputation

The present study contributes to the understanding of the role of two major components of the service production and delivery system in reinforcing the perceived corporate reputation. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to assess the combined effects of service offering and service employees on customers’ perception of corporate reputation. A hierarchical multiple regression with interaction analysis was performed on data collected from customers of a banking institution to assess the main effect of service offering and service employees, as well as their interactive effect on customers’ perception of corporate reputation. A significant interaction between service offering and service employees in their influence on corporate reputation was found. This results suggest that service employees intervene as a moderator variable in the relationship between service offering and corporate reputation. Furthermore, service organizations should focus on the crucial role of the service offering during the service encounter and recognize the importance of service employees in such way to reinforce customers' perception of corporate reputation. The study has limited generalization given the convenience sample and the great variety of service industries. The efficacy of the direct measures and the hierarchical multiple regression must be considered. It would be helpful to realize similar studies in other service settings and to explore the exact nature of the interaction between service offering and service employees

The reconfiguration of service production systems in response to offshoring

PurposeA service production system has a structure composed of task execution, agents performing tasks and a resulting service output. The purpose of this paper is to understand how such a service production system changes as a consequence of offshoring.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on practice theory, the paper investigates how offshoring leads to reconfiguration of the service production system. Through a multiple case methodology, the authors demonstrate how agents and structures interact during reconfiguration.FindingsThe paper analyses the reconfiguration of components of a service production system in response to change ignited by offshoring. The authors find recurring effects between structures that enable and constrain agents and agents who shape the structure of the production system.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper offers a novel contribution to the service operations management literature by applying practice theory. Moreover, the authors propose a detailed, activity-driven view of service production systems and service offshoring. The authors contribute to practice theory by extending its domain to operations management.Practical implicationsService production systems have the ability to self-correct any changes inflicted through offshoring of the systems, which helps firms that offshore.Originality/valueThe paper is aimed at service professionals and offshoring managers and proposes a novel presentation of the service production system with a description of how it responds to offshoring. The authors contribute to theory by applying practice theory to the fields of service operations management and offshoring.

A typology of customer-to-customer interaction and its implications for excellence in service provision

Whereas the critical role of customer participation and interaction with service providers for the quality of service outcomes and value has been extensively discussed in the literature, an equivalent debate about the implications of customer-to-customer interactions (CCI) has not yet been done. While CCI are recognised as a potential driver of variability and unpredictability in service production systems, the available research on the topic still offers rather anecdotal examples on how to handle CCI. For this reason, the current level of understanding about the consequences associated with different manifestations of CCI, as well as the knowledge about what are the adequate CCI management strategies remains fragmented and largely incomplete for effectively guiding managerial decision. This paper addresses this gap by advancing a CCI typology that characterises customers’ interactions along two dimensions concerning the design of service operations and delivery. The paper builds on a review of the literature on CCI, identifying a range of different customer interaction determinants and circumstances, while characterising the potential implications of CCI for service operations, quality and value. Some recommendations on adequate service management strategies to maximise the positive effects of CCI on value creation, cost reduction and service uniqueness are made.

Optimal Control of an N-Policy Two-Phase MX/Ek/1 Queuing System with Server Startup Subject to the Server Breakdowns and Delayed Repair

Background/Objective: To investigate the control policy of the two-phase Mx/Ek/1 queueing system with server startup time, N-policy and unreliable server, consisting of breakdown and delay periods. Methods: Steady state equations governing the queuing system are written and is solved using the probability generating functions to obtain the steady state probabilities when the server is in different states. Results: Expected queue length when the server is in different states is derived. Also the expected waiting time in the queue is obtained through heuristic approach. Optimal threshold of N that minimizes the average cost per unit time is derived. Sensitivity analysis is performed on the optimal threshold N* based on changes in the system parameters and cost elements for the geometric arrival batch size distribution. Conclusions/Applications: This model can be obtained in the two-phase service systems like communication networks and production systems to analyze the system performance.

Identifying management strategies to improve sustainability and household income for herders on the desert steppe in Inner Mongolia, China

Grasslands play important roles on all continents in ecosystem service and livestock production systems. With increasing human and livestock population, significant challenges are faced in providing safe and high quality animal and herbage products from grasslands in China. The family ranch is the basic management unit and production system in Inner Mongolia, north China. Animal populations are increasing, but the income of herders and grassland condition are not improving. There is a need for new management strategies to guide the future development of animal husbandry. Based on the results of demonstration experiments and surveys in Siziwang Banner, the StageONE Model developed for Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project “Sustainable Livestock Grazing Systems on Chinese Temperate Grasslands” was used to simulate changes in management strategies in a typical whole farm system, in order to identify feasible, sustainable and profitable farm management strategies. A new management strategy, including lower stocking rates and increased use of feed supplement in winter and spring, was adopted in a small number of farms and compared with the typical farm using the StageONE model. The results show that the total actual energy intake of sheep in the new strategy is higher than under traditional management, and the net energy surplus is –0.36 MJ/sheep unit/d, which is lower than under traditional management. The new strategy, in which stocking rates are reduced by 14.1%, also reduced methane emissions by 34.14% and increased net income by 15.85%. The simulation results suggest new ways for herders, companies and government to improve grassland management while increasing herders' net incomes.

How Offshoring Elicits Reconfiguration of the Service Production System

Service production systems can be seen as a structure consisting of task execution, resources executing tasks and the service output received by the client. Offshoring acts as an exogenous shock to such a service production system. Drawing on practice theory and applying a multiple case methodology to a large, multinational shipping company we investigate how offshoring to an emerging economy leads to misalignment of the system. We then find that agents undertake actions, both top-down and bottom up initiatives, to attempt to realign the service production system. We develop a set of propositions that explains how structures and agents interact to deal with misalignment and how service output changes due to offshoring. The major contribution of this paper is that is provides a theoretically grounded explanation of how service production systems evolve over time. We also contribute to an understanding of the impact of offshoring and to practice theory.

3105 エネルギ消費モデルを用いたサービス生産システム評価モデルの提案(OS7-2 設計とリソースアセットマネジメント,OS7 ライフサイクル設計とサービス工学)

3105 エネルギ消費モデルを用いたサービス生産システム評価モデルの提案(OS7-2 設計とリソースアセットマネジメント,OS7 ライフサイクル設計とサービス工学)

Quality versus productivity in service production systems: an organisational analysis

The study presents an organisational analysis into the linked issues of service productivity and perceived service quality. The operations management literature postulates that a trade-off exists between service productivity and perceived service quality, an assertion which is supported by evidence from managerial experiences and other academic researches. However, is it possible to prevail over the trade-off between productivity and perceived quality? Further, what is the effect of the trade-off on company profitability? To respond to these questions, a retrospective longitudinal study is performed, based on analysis of data collected from 52 offices of a major European banking group over the years 2010–2011. A first analysis verifies the existence of the trade-off. A second then examines the suitability of the employee incentive system intended to overcome the trade-off. Finally, a multiple linear regression model is developed in order to verify whether service productivity and perceived service quality impact on company profitability, and to what extent.

Sustainable Agricultural Development under Climate Change in Bangladesh

Climate change is no more an environmental concern it has emerged as biggest developmental challenge for the most vulnerable Bangladesh. The whole international community is also scared of catastrophic adverse effects of future climatic changes on different spheres of man and nature, e.g. deglaciation and sea level changes, submergence of lands, nations and major coastal lowlands, atmospheric dynamics including evaporation and precipitation, global radiation balance, photosynthesis and ecological productivity, plant and animal community and many more. This paper tries to focus the adverse impacts of climatic changes on the crop production, food security, yield gap and sustainable agriculture by crop intensification and diversification. The impact of climate on agriculture could result in problems with food security and may threaten the livelihood activities upon which much of the population depends and thrives. Hilly committed research efforts showed technological progress as evidenced by release of 684 high yielding varieties of various crops and about 769 management technologies by NARS institutes, and universities. The greatest challenge for the future agriculture under climate change, we need improved and modified warning system, developed climate impact modules, build sufficient resilience of food system, comprehensive climate resilience strategies, develop database on climate. Also need top priority to mitigate the impact of climate change on agriculture through weather services, more research and extension service, agro advisories, insurance, community bank, intensify and diversify crop production system, modern high yielding varieties and management technologies for future sustainable agriculture.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jsf.v11i1.19396