A Conceptual Model for Product Service System (PSS)

Abstract

Servitization or productization, indicating evolution from product to service economy or vice-versa, can be considered as a successful strategy to gain competitiveness based on novel combination of products and services. To decrease the risks of servitization and to support the sustainable development of its main outcome, being Product Service System (PSS), it is required not only to have a clear and common understanding of the core business and processes but also to share the same definitions on (PSS) concepts as the main outcome of servitization. For this purpose, managers could be supported by abstract models with a limited number and high ratio of known concepts in the early stages of PSS development. Through an extensive literature review on this subject, followed by a structured conceptualization approach and discussions with domain experts, this paper proposes a Conceptual Model (PSS-CM). To validate the results, PSS-CM and its elements were discussed in several iterations, from both academic and industrial points of view, in the frame of a European research project. In the frame of this project, a case study was also performed to illustrate the instantiation of PSS-CM.

Conceptual Framework for Product Service Systems

“…Product-and service-related systems and elements are in interaction and integration within a PSS [43,[45][46][47][48][49][50]. The outcome is in fact a mix of tangible products and intangible services, which should interact jointly and symbiotically.…”

“…For instance, a PSS can be service-oriented or product-oriented [51]. No matter the relative importance of product-and service-related entities, there should be a symbiotic (win-win) relation between them to fulfill specific customer needs with higher added values compared to isolated products and services [50].…”