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Design of Product-Service Systems in SMEs: Exploring challenges and the influence of firm characteristics
Mälardalen University, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Innovation and Product Realisation.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3920-779X
2022 (English)Licentiate thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The manufacturing industry is essential in the transition towards a Circular Economy and a more sustainable society. One way manufacturing companies can become more sustainable and contribute to a resource-efficient society is by offering Product-Service Systems (PSS). PSS means integrating products and services through different types of business models, such as product pooling, leasing, sharing, and other product-related services. Designing PSS is both about the tangible product offering and the design of the complete system around the product. Therefore, it is required for manufacturing companies to have a systems approach when designing PSS. The majority of studies in the PSS field have been conducted from a large-company perspective, and it has been limited focus considering the context and characteristics of SMEs. This thesis aims to contribute to the PSS and servitisation literature by addressing the research gap and lack of insights in studies related to PSS design in a manufacturing SME context.

This research is based on a systematic literature review and empirical data from three contract manufacturing SMEs. The findings show that SMEs face both internal and external challenges when designing PSS. The challenges identified are related to several parts of the organisation and are also interconnected and overlapping. Besides, SMEs' characteristics also influence these challenges, showing the importance of the context when discussing challenges in designing PSS in SMEs. The study shows that characteristics such as lack of financial resources influence more than one challenge, making it difficult for SMEs to know which challenges to prioritise when designing PSS. Also, as the studied SMEs are contract manufacturers to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), they need acceptance and support from their OEM customers, but they may not gain customer acceptance. The study indicates that SMEs need to decide if they should design PSS with their customers or find a business opportunity and design PSS independently, despite lacking vital resources needed for PSS design.

Keywords: Product-Service Systems, Small and medium-sized enterprises, Servitization, challenges, SME characteristics, manufacturing companies, circular economy

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Eskilstuna: Mälardalens universitet, 2022.
Series
Mälardalen University Press Licentiate Theses, ISSN 1651-9256 ; 329
Keywords [en]
Product-Service Systems, Small and medium-sized enterprises, Servitization, challenges, SME characteristics, manufacturing companies, circular economy
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Research subject
Innovation and Design
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-59980ISBN: 978-91-7485-565-4 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-59980DiVA, id: diva2:1697829
Presentation
2022-11-03, A2-035, Mälardalens Universitet, Eskilstuna, 13:15 (Swedish)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2022-09-23 Created: 2022-09-21 Last updated: 2022-10-12Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. Exploring Challenges to Design Product-Service Systems in SMEs: A Case Study
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Exploring Challenges to Design Product-Service Systems in SMEs: A Case Study
2022 (English)In: Advances in Transdisciplinary Engineering, IOS Press BV , 2022, Vol. 21, p. 63-74Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

The transition towards a circular economy (CE) is part of the solution to reduce the global consumption of natural resources and increase resource efficiency in society. Product-Service Systems (PSS) is seen as one of the effective ways of moving towards a CE. PSS leads to an increase in product use by sharing or renting, and by extending material and product lifecycles through repair, remanufacturing, reuse and recycling. Therefore, designing PSSs have great potential to facilitate the CE transition. Many SMEs show an increased interest in a CE transition; however, they fall short in taking the right path towards designing PSS. Designing PSSs involve a rearrangement of resources, and SMEs usually do not possess the same resources as larger firms. Previous research clarifies that the transition from traditional product design to designing PSS is challenging for SMEs. This paper adds insights to the PSS literature and industrial practices through a single-case study by identifying and describing the challenges an SME may face when intending to design PSS. The data is based on interviews, workshops, and internal archive documents. The findings show that an SME faces both internal and external challenges. The internal challenges related to time constraints, the current business model, lack of financial resources, organisational structure and internal processes, dedicated employees for business and service development, and competence. The external challenges relate to SMEs position in the value chain, customer interests in PSS solutions, and handling of reversed logistics.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
IOS Press BV, 2022
Keywords
Challenges, Circular economy, PSS, Servitization, Small and medium-sized enterprises
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-59537 (URN)10.3233/ATDE220126 (DOI)2-s2.0-85132814510 (Scopus ID)9781614994398 (ISBN)
Conference
10th Swedish Production Symposium, SPS 2022
Available from: 2022-07-06 Created: 2022-07-06 Last updated: 2022-09-21Bibliographically approved
2. Design of Product-Service Systems in SMEs: A review of current research and future directions to enable a circular economy
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Design of Product-Service Systems in SMEs: A review of current research and future directions to enable a circular economy
Show others...
(English)Manuscript (preprint) (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-59977 (URN)
Available from: 2022-09-21 Created: 2022-09-21 Last updated: 2022-11-11Bibliographically approved
3. The influence of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises’ Characteristics on Product-Service-System design challenges
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The influence of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises’ Characteristics on Product-Service-System design challenges
(English)Manuscript (preprint) (Other academic)
National Category
Mechanical Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-59979 (URN)
Available from: 2022-09-21 Created: 2022-09-21 Last updated: 2022-09-22Bibliographically approved

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Åkesson, Jennie

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