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International audience; Organizational structure appears as one of the major challenges in the servitization of manufacturing firms. Decisions about organizational structure are closely linked to those concerning strategy, and manufacturers need to decide whether to integrate or separate product and service business units. However, there is no consensus and the literature on servitization still does not provide a clear answer on the question of the separation or integration of service and product activities. In order to help alleviate the current stalemate, this chapter calls for a new direction in research on organizational structures in servitization, especially regarding its epistemological foundations. It first proceeds to a review of the “to separate or integrate” debate, then suggests some avenues for studying organizational structures in servitization within alternative and multiple epistemological paradigms.

International audience; The importance of digitalization is widely recognized, but digital transformation is not commonplace, and companies often struggle to face the challenges it entails. Digitalization and digital transformation are even more challenging for manufacturing SMEs. In this paper, we aim at investigating the barriers to digital servitization faced by manufacturing SMEs. We build on a literature review on barriers and obstacles to digital servitization, and present a set of case studies that enable us to identify the main barriers these French manufacturing SMEs face in their move toward digital servitization. Our findings show that digital servitization is at a very early stage in these SMEs, and that the main barriers they face are both organizational and customer-related.

International audience; The role of corporate culture in achieving servitization strategies is a recurrent issue in the servitization literature. The assumption is that corporate culture can have a profound impact on the effectiveness of the organization. Hence, manufacturing firms that pursue a servitization strategy should align their corporate culture, and move from a product-oriented culture to a service-oriented one. Based on action research, we have investigated the service and customer orientation of the corporate culture of a French manufacturing SME that has successfully developed product-related services. Our results show that its corporate culture is characterized by embeddedness between product and service organization, and a strong customer orientation. This leads us to challenge the way corporate culture is dealt with in the servitization literature.

Cet article traite de la question des logiques d’innovation sous-jacentes au developpement de systemes produit-service (SPS) par les entreprises industrielles : la servicisation resulte-t-elle d’une strategie d’exploitation, d’une strategie d’exploration ou d’une forme d’ambidextrie organisationnelle ? Nous faisons l’hypothese que la logique d’innovation depend fortement du type de SPS et de strategie de servicisation menee par l’entreprise. En particulier, plus le changement de business model sous-tendu par la servicisation est important, et plus il repose sur une strategie d’exploration. La contribution theorique de cette recherche nous parait double : d’une part, elle permet de montrer l’interet des notions d’exploitation et d’exploration dans le cadre des travaux sur la servicisation des entreprises industrielles. D’autre part, elle propose, et valide en partie, l’hypothese selon laquelle le developpement de SPS orientes produits, usage ou resultat repose sur des logiques differenciees en termes d’exploitation et d’exploration.

Part 8: Knowledge Based Engineering; International audience; Product-Service Systems (PSS) are one of the business innovation drivers in terms of increasing the value for the customer and for the actors involved in PSS provision. This paper reports on a framework for assessing the economic value out of PSS provision considering a multi-actor perspective. The originality of the proposed framework is twofold: enabling an attribution of the costs (and revenues) to the actors involved in the value network, and considering the peculiarities of the use phase in cost and revenue calculation, i.e. impact of PSS contract duration and of the intensification of the product use through take-back systems.

International audience; Although Product-Service Systems (PSS) are recognized as a promising model in literature, they are still not widely implemented in companies, mainly due to cultural barriers. Education should play a major role in removing these barriers and fostering the diffusion and implementation of PSS. This paper focuses on engineering education for graduate students and presents an original training program that was built and implemented at the Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne (EMSE). The main characteristics of this program are (i) multidisciplinarity, in terms of mixing PSS engineering and managerial approaches, and (ii) mixing theory, case studies and the use of simulation, based on several educational tools. The program is assessed out of the gathering of students’ perceptions, which contributed to elaborate on some requirements regarding teaching servitization and PSS based on experiential learning theory.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the environment-strategy-structure fit in the context of industrial servitization and its impact on the profitability of manufacturing SMEs. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with the CEOs of 184 French manufacturing SMEs. These primary data were complemented by the indicators extracted from a financial database to ensure objective measures of financial performance. Analyses were conducted by means of partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The research tests the impact of the organizational design (customer interface, service delivery system and service culture (SC)) on financial performance. It also tests the moderating effect on this relationship of servitization strategies adopted by the firm (added services (AS), activities reconfiguration (AR) and business model reconfiguration (BMR)) and the environment in which the firm is situated (industry dynamism, competitive intensity and industry munificence). Research limitations/implications This study considers the coalescence of the environment-strategy-structure to be a driver of firm performance in the context of industrial firms’ servitization. Three specific servitization strategies (AS, AR and BMR) are suggested based on the service offering’s impact on the customer’s activity chain or business model. Practical implications The research proposes some optimal organizational design depending on servitization strategy and environmental factors; for example, SC has a strong impact on financial performance when BMR is adopted. Originality/value This empirical study is based on an extended sample of 184 SMEs and provides quantitative support for the claim that good alignment between strategy and organizational design based on environmental factors increases profitability.

International audience; Experimental investigations on the electric field strength required to overcome the adhesion forces of micron size tungsten metallic dust as well as silver and aluminum oxide in powdery form deposited on a conductive surface are presented. The results reveal a strong influence of particulate surface properties on the detachment threshold, especially for tungsten particles which exhibit a thin surface oxide layer that screens their electrical conductivity. Such tungsten particles makes possible that electrostatic self-charging occurs when tritiated because of their dielectric properties even if there are deposited on a conductive grounded surface. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

Understanding the mobilization of dust in tokamaks is essential for proper machine operation and occupational worker exposure during maintenance operations. It is also a key issue for the safety assessment of ITER in Loss of Vacuum Accident (LOVA) scenario. Dust mobilization by airflow is strongly dependent on particle size and shape, and these characteristics are related to the specific process of erosion of the plasma facing components. Accordingly, it is important to develop techniques for in situ analysis of wall dustiness and potential dust mobilization by airflow. We propose a device, called DUSTER BOX, allowing to study dustiness of Tore Supra surfaces and to collect dust sample without mechanical stresses. This device consists in a simple airflow channel box and allows injecting a filtered airflow tangentially to the surface. The flow velocity parallel to the plasma facing components is 10 m/s and the friction velocity is 0.7 m/s which is the value needed to tear off particles greater than few microns from surfaces. After being resuspended, carbon dusts are collected on a membrane filter for weight analysis, size distribution analysis and electron microscope imaging. DUSTER BOX has been successfully used to realize a mapping of particles deposit in Tore Supra and to collect samples for size distribution analysis.

Purpose – Servitization of manufacturing is characterized by very complex decision processes within strongly unstable and uncertain decision contexts. Decision-makers are face situations of lack of internal and external information. The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision aid approach to support the management of servitization decision-making processes. Design/methodology/approach – The scientific orientation of this research consists in working at improving the efficiency of the servitization decision-making process, by identifying factors of non-reliability, in order to propose remediation actions for the whole process. Improving the final decisions taken by the managers is considered as a consequence of the improvement of the decision-making process reliability. The method, based on modeling and evaluation, requires the specification of a decision process model for servitization, used as a basis to assess decision process reliability and diagnose the enterprise’s servitization decision system. Improving the final decisions made by the managers is considered as a consequence of the improvement of the decision-making process reliability. Findings – Key added values: first, to formalize a servitization decision-making reference model; second, to specify a reliability assessment applied to the decision system; and third, to define a decision process reliability diagnosis procedure for servitization, illustrated in a case study. Research limitations/implications – A direct perspective is to complete the focus on procedural reliability, by taking into consideration the subjective rationality of decision-makers in the reliability assessment procedure. Additionally, this reliability assessment method and diagnosis could become the basis of a larger risk management approach for servitization. Practical implications – The diagnosis procedure proposed in the paper is dedicated to generating practical results for enterprise decision-makers, consisting in recommendations for decision process improvements, in the context of servitization. The approach is illustrated through an industrial SME case study. The practical implications are highly contextualized. Originality/value – The key originality of this research is to tackle servitization complexity with a decision system modeling and diagnosis orientation, including the formalization of the notion of “decision process reliability,” and the specification and implementation of a quantitative assessment procedure.

International audience; La servicisation désigne la transition de l’entreprise manufacturière de la vente de produits (biens) vers la vente d’offres intégrées produit-service. Le terme lui-même « servitization » apparait pour la première fois à la fin des années 1980 dans les travaux de S. Vandemerwe et J. Rada (1988). Les auteurs parlent alors de « servitization of business » pour qualifier le mouvement de nombreuses entreprises manufacturières cherchant à créer davantage de valeur en intégrant des services dans leur offre traditionnelle de produits. Depuis lors, de très nombreux travaux ont été développés sur ce thème, présentant souvent la servicisation comme un changement de business model. Curieusement pourtant, peu de travaux se sont centrés ou ont utilisés les outils et concepts de modèle économique pour analyser la servicisation. Or, ces outils et concepts nous apparaissent comme particulièrement pertinents, car ils permettent selon nous de faire le lien entre les dimensions stratégiques de la servicisation et ses conséquences organisationnelles.

International audience; Abstract Tritium adsorption and desorption from well characterized tungsten dust are presented. The dust used are of different types prepared by planetary milling and by aggregation technique in plasma. For the milled powder, the surface specific area (SSA) is 15.5 m2/g. The particles are poly-disperse with a maximum size of 200 nm for the milled powder and 100 nm for the aggregation one. Prior to tritiation the particles are carefully de-oxidized. Both samples are experiencing a high tritium inventory from 5 GBq/g to 35 GBq/g. From comparison with massive samples and considering that tritium inventory increases with SSA, it is shown that surface effects are predominant in the tritium trapping process. Extrapolation to the ITER environment is undertaken with the help of a Macroscopic Rate Equation model. It is shown that, during the life time of ITER, these particles can exceed rapidly 1 GBq/g. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Performing servitisation requires choice consistency in terms of manufacturing structure, service structure, and the coupling between them. In this paper, we rely on the manufacturing strategy and service innovation literature to build a conceptual framework in order to investigate a servitisation path in industry. This framework aims at describing both the product-oriented production structure and the service-oriented production structure, at key points of a firm’s history. We use this framework within a case study from the capital goods industry, and show its relevance as a support for the diagnosis of consistencies or inconsistencies in strategic choices relating to the design of the product-service production system throughout time.

International audience; At the starting of the shutdown of the AUG (ASDEX Upgrade: Axially Symmetric Divertor EXperiment) German tokamak, we collected particles deposited on the divertor surfaces by means of a dedicated device called “Duster Box”. This device allows to collect the particles using a controlled airflow with a defined shear stress. Consequently, the particles collected correspond to a potentially mobilizable fraction, by an airflow, of deposited dust. A total of more than 70,000 tungsten particles was, analysed showing a bimodal particle size distribution with a mode composed of flakes at 0.6 μm and a mode composed of spherical particles at 1.8 μm.

International audience; This work presents the results of experiments conducted with carbon microparticles collected in the tokamak Tore Supra in order to characterize their resuspension behaviour from a stainless-steel substrate when exposed to turbulent airflow. Experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel with controlled velocity profiles and monitored environmental conditions. A consequent amount of dust has been collected in the vessel of the tokamak and a bimodal particle size distribution of samples is first demonstrated. Comparison with resuspension of alumina powders with equivalent particle size distributions under turbulent airflow is also discussed. Results for both carbon and alumina microparticles are then compared to a theoretical resuspension model. Data reveal that exposing multilayer deposits with bimodal particle size distributions to low-speed flows (i.e. 3-10 m/s) induces a significant reduction of the mobilized fractions compared to what was predicted by the model. In addition, results helped to highlight some limitations in the model to physically describe changes in the adhesive strength that can occur with a polydisperse deposit. © 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Part 4: Transition Towards Product-Service Systems; International audience; The paper proposes a methodology to support the organisational shift towards product Services Systems. Its backbone is the evaluation of economic impact of such a shift. However, in order to efficiently accommodate organisational changes and include company specificities, other steps are required prior to evaluation. These are context analysis, scenarios identification and modelling. The novelty of the paper lies in (i) including organisational changes in the evaluation and (ii) managing the contextualization to company specificities.

International audience; Servitization decision process is characterized by a high degree of complexity and uncertainty. We propose a diagnosis approach applied to servitization decision making process in industrial companies. We introduce a decision model to formalize the servitization process and a decision reliability assessment approach. This reliability assessment is interpreted from three viewpoints, to help decision-makers in managing the servitization process. The paper presents this diagnosis method and illustrates it using an industrial SME case study.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-3-642-15960-2#section=791431&page=1; International audience; This paper presents an engineering approach of product/service oriented value creation chains. When configuring product/service productive networks, a high variability in alternative scenarios have to be considered due to flexibility levers introduced by the service oriented approach. To cope with the difficulty of scenario selection a 2 stages engineering approach is proposed. The first stage is developed in this paper aiming at a general analysis of alternative scenarios: a network model and an evaluation system for scenario comparison are explained and discussed.

National audience; À partir d'un travail de recherche-action réalisé en collaboration avec Schneider Electric, cet article analyse le rôle des groupes d'acteurs dans le développement des connaissances et des compétences organisationnelles à travers les notions de communauté et de " ba ", et envisage la part prise par les mécanismes psychosociaux au sein de ces groupes.

Constatant l’importance des coopérations entre PME, cet article s’intéresse au pilotage des groupements de PME, définis comme une forme particulière de réseau de deux PME au moins, qui s’unissent pour mener à bien un projet commun.Pour analyser les facteurs et les moyens permettant d’assurer une efficience maximale du fonctionnement de ces groupements, l’auteur mobilise deux approches différentes mais complémentaires de la firme : la théorie contractuelle, qui insiste sur les risques inhérents aux coopérations, et la théorie basée sur les compétences, plus dynamique, qui met davantage en relief la coordination technique des activités et la possibilité de faire émerger de nouvelles compétences.L’auteur propose une typologie opérationnelle qui distingue deux types de groupements de PME : les groupements de similitude, qui concernent des activités similaires et sont orientés vers la réduction des coûts ou la recherche d’une taille optimale, et les groupements complémentaires, fondés sur la complémentarité des actifs des partenaires et orientés vers la coproduction de ressources nouvelles. Si le premier type de groupements peut se contenter d’un pilotage contractuel basé sur des contrats « complets », le second doit s’appuyer sur un pilotage relationnel, reposant sur des contrats incomplets et la confiance, afin de favoriser les processus d’apprentissage et une coordination plus cognitive des partenaires., Noting the importance of cooperations between SME, this paper addresses the governance of SME’s groups, defined as particular shapes of networks of at least two SMEs which join together to achieve a specific project.In order to analyze the factors and means that ensure a maximum efficiency of these groups, the author mobilizes two complementary approaches of the firm : the contractual theory, which points the inherent risks in cooperations, and the competence-based approach, which more dynamically highlights the stakes of technical coordination and the possibility of giving rise to new competencies.The author proposes an operational typology which distinguishes two types of groups of SMEs : similarity groups are related to similar activities and directed towards a reduction of costs or the research of an optimal size ; and complementary groups founded on the complementary contributions of the partners and directed towards a co-production of new resources. In the first case, a contractual governance based on complete contracts is sufficient ; in the second, the governance must be relational, based on incomplete contracts and on trust, in order to support learning processes and the more cognitive coordination between the partners., Constatando la importancia de las cooperaciones entre PyMEs, este ariculo trata la gobernanza de las agrupaciones de PyMEs, definidas como una forma particular de red de dos PyMEs al menos que se unen para llevar a cabo un proyecto comun.Para analizar los factores y medios que permiten garantizar una eficiencia maxima del funcionamiento de estas agrupaciones, el autor moviliza dos enfoques diferentes pero complementarios de la empresa : la teoria contractual, que insiste sobre los riesgos inherentes de las cooperaciones, y la teoria dicha « competence-based approach », mas dinamica, que pone aun mas de relieve la coordinación tecnica entre los socios y la posibilidad de hacer surgir nuevas competencias.El autor propone una tipología opertiva que distingue dos tipos de agrupa-ciones de PyMEs : las agrupaciones e semejanza, que se refieren a actividades similares, orientadas hacia la reducción de los costes o la busqueda de un tamano optimo : y las agrupaciones complementarias, fundadas sobre la complementa-riedad de los activos de los socios y orientadas hacia la coproducción de nuevos recursos. Si el primer tipo de agrupaciones puede satisfacerse con una gobernanza contractual basada en contratos mas completos, el segundo debe basarse en una gobernanza relacional, fundada en contratos incompletos y confianza, con el fin de favorecer los procesos de aprendizaje y una coordinación mas cognoscitiva de los socios., Der Artikel umschreibt die Wichtigkeit und Bedeutung von Kooperationen unter KMUs und legt besonderes Augenmerk auf die Führung dieser KMU-Gruppierungen. Diese Gruppierungen werden definiert als spezielles Netzwerk (mindestens zwei Partner) mit dem Ziel, ein gemeinsames Vorhaben erfolgreich durchzuführen.Um die Faktoren und Mittel zu analysieren, die eine bestmögliche Effizienz solcher Gruppierungen erlauben, werden zwei verschiedene sich ergänzende Ansätze herangezogen : die Vertragstheorie, wonach Risiken in solchen Zusammen-arbeiten inhärent sind und der dynamischeren Kompetenztheorie, die besonders die technische Koordination und die Möglichkeit neuer Kompetenzentwicklungen hervorhebt.Der Autor schlägt eine operationelle Typologie vor, die zwei Arten von KMU-Gruppierungen unterscheidet : Gruppierungen von ähnlichen Unternehmen und ähnlichen Aktivitäten, die eine Kostenreduktion oder eine kritische Grösse anstreben, und Gruppierungen, in welchen sich die einzelnen Partner ergänzen und eine Koproduktion von neuen Ressourcen anstreben. Für die erstgenannte Gruppie-rung benötigt man zur Steuerung lediglich ein komplettes Vertragswerk. Die zweite Gruppierung bedarf zur eigenen Leitung flexible Rahmenverträge und Vertrauen, um Lernprozesse und eine kognitive Koordination der Partner zu begünstigen.

978-0-7546-1588-0; The interest in becoming globally competitive through network strategies - particularly networks between small and medium-sized firms in local business communities - is high among academic researchers, economic development agencies and growth orientated firms. This book: addresses a leading topic in economic development - clusters and competitiveness; contains chapters by international experts from Sweden, Italy, France, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, UK, US, and Canada; is multidisciplinary, with contributions from business, economics, geography, planning and regional science; and combines theory and empirical evidence to address the limits and drawbacks to clustering, as well as how clusters contribute to competitiveness.

International audience; Our goal in this paper is to analyze the evolution of the corporate culture required for the process of servitization through changes in practical, behavioral and intellectual habits. The purpose is to gain a better understanding of the process by which an enterprise can change its culture from a product based culture to a service based one in the specific context of SMEs. We use a single case study to understand in depth the effects of a change in company corporate culture. The case study concerns a SME in the Rhne-Alpes Region in France, which specializes in remanufacturing appliances. In 2012, the general manager began a process of started a strategic reflection on servitization in order to diversify the enterprise's activities and unlock new markets. However, the adoption of servitization requires profound modifications in the company's organization, and particularly in its corporate culture. In order to better understand this change, we suggest considering it as a learning process.

International audience; This paper proposes a framework relying on a combination of a methodological approach with a modelling and simulation platform. The methodological approach offers generic tools to collect and analyze the key information required to understand a PSS industrial context. Modelling and simulation areconcerned with the specification and evaluation of alternative PSS value-chain configurations. A case studyin the field of sludge treatment is used to illustrate the proposed approach. This case study points out the main performance drivers for the different types of actor involved in the PSS. The novelty of the paper is twofold: i) it provides a structural and methodological support to build and evaluate different value-chain configurations aiming at deliver PSS solutions, and ii) it gives a preliminary analysis of the performance drivers of an innovative activity related to sludge treatment.

© Aston Business School; International audience; Servitization decision process is characterized by a high degree of complexity and uncertainty. We propose a diagnosis approach applied to servitization decision making process in industrial companies. We introduce a decision model to formalize the servitization process and a decision reliability assessment approach. This reliability assessment is interpreted from three viewpoints, to help decision-makers in managing the servitization process. The paper presents this diagnosis method and illustrates it using an industrial SME case study.