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The human-centric philosophy is considered a crucial development direction for smart Product-Service Systems (smart PSS). Smart PSS has effectively advanced the circular economy by enhancing user experience, incorporating servitization and digital servitization, and extending product lifecycle, among other key aspects of sustainable development. However, there is currently a lack of a reasonable, accurate, and actionable framework and methodology to express the human element, namely user profiling, within this philosophy. To address this gap, this paper utilizes statistical methods such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, and regression analysis, building upon the concept of traditional user profiling. The aim is to integrate the three prominent approaches of goal-oriented, scenario-based, and data-driven user profiling, with the goal of complementing each other and designing a top-level user profiling framework for smart PSS. Furthermore, Industry 4.0 technologies and text mining techniques are employed to collect data on users' product and service usage. As these data contain real-time information about user needs, behaviors and goals at different time periods, they can be used to construct dynamic features of user profiling, and ultimately achieve the construction of dynamic user profiling for smart PSS. To validate the proposed user profiling framework and dynamic user features of smart PSS, this paper presents a case study focusing on the user group of maternal women. This case study promotes the in-depth exploration of smart PSS research in expressing the human element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advances of telemetries and computational power, the question for firms is no longer what can be collected but what shall be collected. It is easy to add sensors and gather a vast amount of data but without knowing their purpose, the gains are marginal. In the field of Value-Driven Design, value is quantified and measured to ensure an overall higher output, something crucial for complex and ambiguous domains such as Product-Service Systems. This paper aims at finding the connection between PSS value and operational data from an industrial perspective. By using Participatory Action Research in a manufacturing firm, a value-data framework and method were developed that succeed in connecting these two extremities as well as visualize them with the support of network graph theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complexity in new product development is claimed to continuously increase, causing challenges that require new and cross-disciplinary solutions. There are at least three major forces causing upheaval in the way we are designing, engineering, producing and using/reusing products: 1) achieving the sustainability goals, 2) availability of digital technology at ever lower costs and 3) personalization and customization of products. This study seeks to investigate future solutions for the street light infrastructure based on Design for X approaches - and enablers and barriers for innovation in the stakeholder network. Light poles are traditionally been an enabler for illuminating the road in a static manner, whilst such structures in the future are predicted to host a multitude of technologies for serving a broader array of functionality. Examples of added value functionality are; crash management, smart control systems for energy saving, ease of maintenance, sensor-service system that provides stakeholders with real time information about the road environment, sensor technology for enabling autonomous driving etc. To explore this functionality, a Design for Excellence product development methodology is used to structure the gathered information from multiple sources. Both a qualitative and quantitative methodologies are used, where the former is conducted by interviewing value chain stakeholders for the complete road light infrastructure domain in one region and the latter is done by a structured questionnaire. The common ground for both approaches is Design for excellence which is regarded as a systematic way of designing products to optimize total benefits over the whole product life span. Findings from this study suggest that safety and reliability are the two most important requirements when designing a light pole for future demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern manufacturing and production companies have transformed their business models in order to integrate Product-Service Systems (PSS). These changes in the modus operandi of companies facilitates the close collaboration of manufacturers and customer in the development of new product. Furthermore, the recent research works in the field of simulation indicate that the integration of Digital Twin, in various phases of the product lifecycle can be very beneficial, saving valuable time. More specifically, the simulation space provided by the Digital Twin can facilitate engineers in the process of information fusion derived from the virtual model of the product (i.e. conceptual model), knowledge gathered from the usage of the physical products as well as from information provided by the customers during the design of a new product. On the other hand, Extended Reality (XR) applications, including Virtual Reality (VR) can facilitate engineers in developing intuitive applications for capturing end-users' knowledge through the interaction with the holograms displayed on their field of view, i.e. the physical space. Moreover, with the utilization of VR, engineers are capable of visualizing the simulation results from the Digital Twin and collaborate with their colleagues for improving new product designs. Towards this direction, the contribution of this research work is focused on the design and development of a framework for including customers in the design phase of new products under the mass personalization paradigm. The Digital Twin of the new product will accept as input information regarding the user-defined requirements, as well as data from previous similar design cases. Through the development of a VR application, engineers can visualize the simulation results and remotely collaborate during the design of new products. Finally, the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) application for the requirement elicitation from customers and the visualization of simulation results is provisioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing intensity of competition, environmental pressures and diversification of customer demands call for integrated solutions, and this circumstance has propelled the product-service system (PSS) into a central position to satisfy consumer requirements and sustainability agendas. However, it is essential to emphasise that not all shifts toward PSS result in sustainability. Even when well-designed, PSS could generate unwanted side effects, usually referred to as rebound effects. Unfortunately, the study of rebound effects within PSS is constrained by the classical concept, which is concerned only with energy efficiency and its environmental impact. It is crucial to develop transitional awareness in observing the rebound effect on PSS by performing an in-depth assessment. This study aims to expand the discussion about the potential rebound effect within the PSS context and propose a framework for the PSS-rebound effect from a life cycle perspective. This study classifies and comprehensively depicts the rebound effect inside the PSS concept, highlighting the various features and cases/types of PSS based on current literature. Then a method is proposed to identify types of rebound effects, their causes and their period of occurrences within the product's life cycle based on three sustainability characteristics. Case studies are provided to illustrate the application of the framework to identify the PSS-rebound effect relationship from the life cycle perspective. The result is beneficial for identifying potential rebound effects associated with PSS implementation to foster sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of Product-Service Systems (PSS) calls for the modification of existing business models. The goal of the paper is to work out an analysis and a classification of PSS design methods used in the development of new business models. Using a systematic review method, we identified 60 PSS design methods. Following the examination of the major business model templates, we selected the Business Canvas Model for further studies. Then, coding rules were adopted to specify what elements of the Business Model Canvas impacts individual PSS design methods and an analysis was performed. In the final stage, methods were broken down by Business Model Canvas domains. Various PSS design methods presented in the literature address different areas of Business Model Canvas. The available PPS methods can be classified into three main groups: Group 1—including infrastructure and offering; Group 2—including infrastructure, offering and customers; and Group 3—including infrastructure, offering, customers and finance. Very few methods consider areas such as Key Partners, Customer Segments, Cost Structure and Revenue Streams. Nevertheless, there is no PPS design method that would address all of Business Model Canvas building blocks. The paper discusses PSS design in business model context. Classification of PSS design methods was proposed together with new possibilities to develop business models based on this classification. The proposed approach illustrates the combination of PSS design methods applied in food processing and agricultural machines industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goal: Product-service systems are innovative business models that aim to contribute to sustainability issues. Bike-sharing system is a classic example of this kind of business model. This work covers an analysis of a bike-sharing system implemented in the South of Brazil from a business model perspective by focusing on the value network. Design / Methodology / Approach: Data was collected based on interviews with the executives of a focal company and information retrieved from other sources, e.g., company internal reports, PSS design documents, etc.). A research protocol was developed based on the literature to identify a set of variables to be interpreted. A semi-structured questionnaire was developed for interviews, which was recorded for later content transcription and analysis. Results: The business model value network and mechanisms of value proposition, configuration, delivery, and value capture are described. This business model is based on a diverse value network and should be developed and updated on co-creation mechanisms to deliver more sustainable results. Limitation of the investigation: It is a single study conducted in a medium-sized town in the South of Brazil that implemented a bike-sharing system. In addition, the analyis was considered in the "problem identification phase". Practical implications: The bike-sharing business model analysis may improve the business model towards increasing the inhabitants' quality of life as well as city image. Originality / Value: The study was conducted in a developing country, analyzing a PSS business model from a sustainable operations perspective, which is not common in the current literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the change management process throughout the servitization strategy. Evidence was collected through 41 semi-structured interviews from four case studies. The study finds that synergistic interaction between product and service systems will create greater customer value when following the servitization strategy. This paper complements extant research on change management in servitization by proposing apparent change as a relaxed strategy to allow for changes following servitization with delicate alignment with existing organizational values and culture. The paper provides theoretical and managerial implications that draw on a balanced focus on both product and service instead of evolutionary or revolutionary strategies toward service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goal: Product-service system (PSS) is a business model implemented by organizations aiming at generating profitability and competitiveness, and contributing to sustainability. However, companies need to build up new skills to develop and implement PSS focused on business models that should be able to generate value. This context calls for a theoretical analysis with the objective of identifing characteristics of this type of business model by means of a literature review. Design / Methodology / Approach: A descriptive review was conducted, and 313 publications related to PSS business model were selected. A final set of 48 articles related to PSS and business models were identified as well as the number of publications per year and main journal. Mechanisms for generating value from the PSS business model and its components were described after content analysis. Results: Most of PSS business model publications were published in recent years with the main focus on sustainability. Fourteen business model components were identified from the literature to be considered when structuring a PSS, associated with value proposition, creation, delivery, and value capture mechanisms. The most common components were 'value proposition' and 'key partners', although their concepts need a clarification. The business model should be designed with a value- centric vision in an iterative process. Moreover, it must cover the interests of the entire PSS value network, considering environmental, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability. Limitations of the investigation: The analysis has not considered the related research field on servitization, and nor the publications related to the 'value' concept from interdisciplinary areas (e.g., marketing). Practical implications: Developing a PSS business model requires forming a value network, considering the interests and responsibilities of those involved for the generation of mutual value as well as the inter-organizational relationships. Originality / Value: As PSS as a business model is a promising field of study, this paper devotes more attention on developing this kind of business model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product-Service Systems (PSS) appears as an emergent subject, gaining the attention of many researchers, and an increasing interest of organizations. As many literature reviews have been conducted in PSS-related field, this paper aims to overview publications from 2006 to 2018 by highlighting PSS benefits and barriers. Content analysis was used to codify data collected in the publications. The main characteristics of the literature reviews are provided as well as a set of 36 PSS benefits and 24 barriers organized in categories and sub-categories. Analyzing PSS-related review papers allows identifying future research opportunities which can foster the design and implementation of PSS business models.

Goal: Product-service systems are innovative business models that aim to contribute to sustainability issues. Bike-sharing system is a classic example of this kind of business model. This work covers an analysis of a bike-sharing system implemented in the South of Brazil from a business model perspective by focusing on the value network. Design/Methodology/Approach: Data was collected based on interviews with the executives of a focal company and information retrieved from other sources, e.g., company internal reports, PSS design documents, etc.). A research protocol was developed based on the literature to identify a set of variables to be interpreted. A semi-structured questionnaire was developed for interviews, which was recorded for later content transcription and analysis. Results: The business model value network and mechanisms of value proposition, configuration, delivery, and value capture are described. This business model is based on a diverse value network and should be developed and updated on co-creation mechanisms to deliver more sustainable results. Limitation of the investigation: It is a single study conducted in a medium-sized town in the South of Brazil that implemented a bike-sharing system. In addition, the analyis was considered in the “problem identification phase”. Practical implications: The bike-sharing business model analysis may improve the business model towards increasing the inhabitants' quality of life as well as city image. Originality/Value: The study was conducted in a developing country, analyzing a PSS business model from a sustainable operations perspective, which is not common in the current literature.

Modern logistics takes significant progress and rapid developments with the prosperity of E-commerce, particularly in China. Typical challenges that logistics industry is facing now are composed by a lack of sharing, standard, cost-effective and environmental package and efficient optimisation method for logistics tasks distribution. As a result, it is difficult to implement green, sustainable logistics services. Three important technologies, Physical Internet (PI), product–service system (PSS) and cloud computing (CC), are adopted and developed to address the above issues. PI is extended to design a world-standard green recyclable smart box that is used to encapsulate goods. Smart box-enabled PSS is constructed to provide an innovative sustainable green logistics service, and high-quality packaging, as well as reduce logistics cost and environmental pollution. A real-time information-driven logistics tasks optimisation method is constructed by designing a cloud logistics platform based on CC. On this platform, a hierarchical tree-structure network for customer orders (COs) is built up to achieve the order-box matching of function. Then, a distance clustering analysis algorithm is presented to group and form the optimal clustering results for all COs, and a real-time information-driven optimisation method for logistics orders is proposed to minimise the unused volume of containers. Finally, a case study is simulated to demonstrate the efficiency and feasibility of proposed cloud logistics optimisation method. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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The use‐oriented product‐service system, such as the bike‐sharing system and the electric vehicle charging station, has gained wide application in engineering fields. Use‐oriented product‐service systems are commonly subject to failures of software and hardware. Failed software can be repaired while failures of hardware require the replacement by spares. An innovative joint optimization model of maintenance and spares ordering policy is proposed for a use‐oriented product‐service system in this work where different types of spares are considered for hardware failure. System effectiveness is maximized by simultaneously considering the incurred costs, system availability, spares availability and the availability of repair engineers. Then, the related reliability probabilistic indices and costs are derived through the continuous time Markov process. To overcome the computational complexity, a greedy search algorithm is applied to obtain a balanced optimal solution for the number of repair engineers and spares inventory policies of different types of parts. Finally, some numerical instances are given to demonstrate the superiority and effectiveness of the proposed joint optimization model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising popularity and strong increase in the number of electric bicycles make it necessary to consider the built-in resources as well as possible treatments after the use phase. The time lag between the purchase and the occurrence of relevant defects suggests significant increases in defective components. Especially the great dynamics of the market due to regular innovations, product renewals, and the lack of spare parts availability for older models make the long-term use by customers much more difficult than for conventional bicycles. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze circular business models for the electric bicycle market. In this way, the required structures for a sustainable electric bicycle industry can be created so that valuable materials do not go into disposal but undergo a new use phase. Based on the results of “AddRE-Mo–Value Preservation Scenarios for Urban Electromobility of Persons and Loads through Additive Manufacturing and Remanufacturing,” a research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, this paper addresses four circular business models, two sales models, and two service models. The guiding research interest of this paper is the combination of remanufacturing and additive manufacturing from a business model perspective, analyzing the extent to which additive remanufacturing can be considered a solution for electric bicycles' circularity. After describing the approach and methods used to develop these four circular business models the business models are described and analyzed using the Business Model Canvas. Based on this analysis, it is shown that the combination of remanufacturing and additive manufacturing can be applied to the electric bicycle market and be integrated into both sales and service models. The description of these business models will help managers design viable business models in the context of sustainable electric bicycles. It also shows that the individual partners within the value chain must collaborate more closely. In the electric bicycle industry, a single company will probably not be able to close the product cycle completely. Further research is needed to develop concepts of the business models and examine their practical feasibility in technical and organizational operations to achieve a circular economy.

The article presents a mathematical model for distributed taxi fleet operations. A technological approach based on mathematical models of transport systems using the Hungarian algorithm was used to model the arrangement of repair and maintenance in the absence of centralized management. The literature review on taxi fleet robotics has shown that central management is the cause of increasing transport service costs up to 30%. The results of approximating the cases of repairing and maintaining the taxi fleet in the absence of centralization to the lognormal and Gaussian distributions are provided based on 2019-2020 data. A blockchain scheme for work organization and maintenance of the taxi fleet within the decentralization framework is developed. The statistical analysis of repair and emergency maintenance cases in the distributed taxi fleets calculated per 1000 cars was 3.6 to 15%. Pearson's criterion c2 was from 0.001 to 0.17. Statistical significance values of the results were p≤0.005. A multivariate cluster analysis of the accident or technical failure occurrence among the distributed taxi fleet vehicles was conducted in months, taking statistical data for the last two years. An algorithm that allows performing optimal assignments for a distributed taxi fleet is developed in this work. A sample calculation of the optimal allocation for taxi fleet vehicles distributed in the state of minimum vehicle repair cost based on the Hungarian algorithm was provided. The application of this algorithm also makes it possible to determine the optimal destinations for vehicles in the taxi fleet.

Goal: Present a holistic perspective of methods and tools for the development of Product Service Systems (PSS). Design/Methodology/Approach: The investigation was conducted in two phases. The first phase presents bibliographic and bibliometric analyses, where 132 papers were read in full. In the second stage, of conceptual development, bibliographic data was grouped and validated by PSS specialists through a questionnaire, whose responses were used to conceptualize a model for PSS development. Results: Elaboration of a concept of a model for the development of Product-Service Systems, capable of providing guidance for all stages of its life cycle. Limitations of the investigation: The proposed model was applied to the bike sharing business model. However, a limitation was the lack of some information regarding this case to apply some methods and tools proposed in the conceptual model. Practical implications: The model developed can be used as a guideline for the elaboration or improvement of a PSS proposal, since it provides structure and control to the business models. Originality/Value: The paper demonstrates its originality and relevance by presenting a model centered on a holistic approach, as it provides a perspective of the whole PSS life cycle. Thus, processes are planned and analyzed from the definition of requirements to the destination after use of the PSS.

Goal: Product-service system (PSS) is a business model implemented by organizations aiming at generating profitability and competitiveness, and contributing to sustainability. However, companies need to build up new skills to develop and implement PSS focused on business models that should be able to generate value. This context calls for a theoretical analysis with the objective of identifing characteristics of this type of business model by means of a literature review. Design/Methodology/Approach: A descriptive review was conducted, and 313 publications related to PSS business model were selected. A final set of 48 articles related to PSS and business models were identified as well as the number of publications per year and main journal. Mechanisms for generating value from the PSS business model and its components were described after content analysis. Results: Most of PSS business model publications were published in recent years with the main focus on sustainability. Fourteen business model components were identified from the literature to be considered when structuring a PSS, associated with value proposition, creation, delivery, and value capture mechanisms. The most common components were ‘value proposition’ and ‘key partners’, although their concepts need a clarification. The business model should be designed with a value-centric vision in an iterative process. Moreover, it must cover the interests of the entire PSS value network, considering environmental, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability. Limitation of the investigation: The analysis has not considered the related research field on servitization, and nor the publications related to the ‘value’ concept from interdisciplinary areas (e.g., marketing). Practical implications: Developing a PSS business model requires forming a value network, considering the interests and responsibilities of those involved for the generation of mutual value as well as the inter-organizational relationships. Originality/Value: As PSS as a business model is a promising field of study, this paper devotes more attention on developing this kind of business model.

As an alternative method of production and consumption in the pursuit of a sustainable society, product–service system (PSS) involves consumers in the process of value creation. This study uses an online survey comprising three questionnaires to investigate consumer acceptance of PSSs based on their expectations of the benefits of three types of PSS: product‐, use‐, and result‐oriented. The results indicate that consumers have higher expectations of the process benefits of result‐oriented PSSs and outcome benefits of product‐oriented PSSs. Furthermore, the results of general linear models indicate that consumers' intentions to purchase PSSs are influenced by expected benefits and consumer innovativeness. High levels of innovativeness among consumers moderate the effects of consumer expectations of outcome benefits on purchase intentions. This result implies that consumers who have lower levels of innovativeness exhibit reluctance to adopt PSSs, although they realize the benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturing servitization has become a major trend in industry that is implemented by so called integrated production and service systems (IPSSs) to offer not only products but also their associated services. In this study, we explore the capacity allocation policy for an IPSS that consists of a manufacturing facility and a service center. The IPSS serves two classes of customers, each demanding a specific product produced at the manufacturing facility and, subsequently, the associated service offered by the service center. We formulate this problem of resource allocation as a Markov decision process. Our analysis suggests that it is optimal to serve the customer with the larger cost saving rate and slower service rate, where the cost saving rate equals service rate times the sum of holding cost and waiting cost. Then we explore production control policies coupled with optimal service ones. We demonstrate that, with light service traffic, the system under the optimal production policy becomes similar to a make‐to‐stock system. Such a system can effectively hedge the system uncertainty. Therefore, the optimal production policy for the IPSS is also a hedging point policy. Under this policy, switching and idling curves split the state space into three regions: one without any production, the two others for production of two type products, respectively. We also discuss the optimal control policies of the two extensions of the IPSS (one with multiple types of product and customers, and the other with a single product and two classes of customers) and find that the characters of the optimal production and service policy still hold. Finally, we develop three heuristic integrated scheduling policies. Numerical experiments show that one is very effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of increasingly aging population has created an increased demand for nursing beds, which not only in terms of quantity but also functionality. Product-service system (PSS) is a highly integrated production system of products and services which can afford full life cycle product and service solutions. This paper introduces a nursing bed PSS, which is able to provide sustainable functional solutions for product design guided by customer requirements. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a common method for requirement-driven solution design, which can transform requirement attributes (RAs) into engineering characteristics (ECs). Nevertheless, general QFD requirement acquisition exists limitations, such as the subjectivity and incomprehensiveness of expert evaluations. Besides, the psychological preference of decision makers to deal with risk is ignored. In this study, we propose a scenario-driven dual-layer requirement network and a modified QFD model to mine latent RAs and prioritize the ECs by maximizing customer satisfaction using Nash Bargaining. The major contributions are listed as follows. First, nursing scenarios drive the acquisition of multiple stakeholders. Second, link prediction program is employed to map and mine latent RAs. Third, TODIM is applied in order to consider the psychological references of decision makers. Fourth, a Nash bargaining non-linear programming model is constructed for optimal compensation of ECs to maximize customer satisfaction under cost constraint. Finally, functional solutions of nursing bed are designed through the proposed QFD model, which are demonstrated to be effective and superior. The results indicate that the new proposed scenario-driven dual-layer network QFD model can capture latent RAs from nursing scenarios, take experts psychological preferences into consideration, provide a more precise ranking of ECs for the development of nursing bed functional solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product-service system (PSS) is an important way of the transformation and upgrading of modern manufacturing industry, it is also one of core development trends of intelligent manufacturing. A PSS can be configured quickly and cheaply to meet the customer's personalized product and service requirements via a PPS design platform, and a modular master structure is the core of PSS design platform. When a PSS instance is configured, it needs to determine the module types and make decisions on the types of PSS firstly, so as to build a master structure for PSS. Therefore, the decision-making on module types and customization degree is a key step to establish the PSS modular master structure. This article proposes a five-step planning method for the modular structure planning of PSS. Firstly, the PSS module types are classified based on the Kano model. Then, bi-level decision-making on modules and its properties are finished by using conjoint analysis method, includes the customer's decision-making on modules and their properties, and the manufacturer's modules and their properties, which provides support for PSS modular optimization configuration design. Finally, the proposed methodology is validated through the case of power transformer. The proposed module planning method for the PSS modular structure helps to determine the module types for PSS services solution layer and generic part layer.

Goal: The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic literature review to identify opportunities to minimize Covid-19 impacts on businesses. Design / Methodology / Approach: The methodology used corresponds to a literature systematic review, covering bibliometric and content analysis. For this purpose, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was employed in the literature search. In total, 98 papers were selected to compose the bibliometric analysis, of which 14 are within the scope of the investigation (content analysis). Results: Bibliometric results present a grouping of keywords, authors' co-citation network, geographic distribution of publications and main journals. In the content analysis, trends for post-pandemic economy are pointed out, unveiling guidelines and opportunities to ensure the resilience of business proposals. Limitations of the investigation: The conclusions present limitations inherent to literature review papers, where filters are used to limit the search. In this work, the research was restricted to articles, published between 2015 and 2020 and written in English. Practical implications: This article proposes perspectives to react in a resilient way in the post-Pandemic period of Covid-19, in order to guarantee the permanence and competitiveness of the companies in the market. Originality / Value: Product-Service Systems and Circular Economy were found to be related to the trends and opportunities identified for the short-future economy.