Anna Rymaszewska

Integrated Product-Service Systems

Gummesson (1995) was one of the first researchers to emphasize the fact that customers are not buying products any more but are rather buying offerings that are based on services which create an added value. The services offered need to solve real customer problems in an efficient and cost-effective way. The value creation of the service should be perceived instantly and be transparent to customers for evaluation of the performance. The transition from manufacturer to service provider can be justified not only from the perspective of potential financial benefits.

Lean Application to Manufacturing Ramp-Up: A Conceptual Approach

This article provides a theoretical overview of the concepts of lean and manufacturing ramp-up in an attempt to conceptualize the strategic areas in which lean philosophy and principles can be applied for continuous improvements. The application of lean principles during the final stage of a new product development process, that is, the ramp-up process, is a critical, early enabler of lean manufacturing. The manufacturing strategy literature conceptualizes a state of “leanness in operations,” which can consolidate both the concepts of lean and manufacturing ramp-up, providing a dual perspective. Abstracting from the extant literature, the authors considered the competitiveness of manufacturing companies from two principal perspectives: the leanness of the ramp-up process and the new-value creation of quality managers. While much of the literature fails to acknowledge that the roots of lean actually lie in quality evolution and TQM, there is relatively sparse evidence on the subject of applying the lean philosophy to manufacturing ramp-up, so this study is an attempt to address this gap. This is achieved by providing a comprehensive outline of the two concepts and illustrating the areas in which mutual benefits can be drawn, as well as providing a conceptual framework for future studies in lean application to the manufacturing ramp-up process.

Role of Technology in Servitization

The role of technology is increasing in service businesses. Product information and product support are offered typically over the Internet. Connected products are smart and collect data from usage. This data can be transferred into centralized servers and big data type analytics can be performed. Additionally, service-dominant logic can serve as a basis for input-output analysis for measuring technology spillovers in service sectors (Hsieh and Yuan 2015).

Strategic Improvements Through Industrial Services

Managing supply chains greatly depends on understanding the classification of industrial services, the customer expectation of the industrial services and how this expectation of the customer affects the quality of the services and demands for improvement, and also the flexibility that is demanded in the service relationship.

Value Chain Effects

Value chains define the position of each actor of the supply chain based on how much value added each partner of the supply chain is delivering.

Pricing Decisions: From Ownership to Subscription

The Trendwatching (2011) report emphasizes that traditional ownership is often a burden for modern and usually mobile customers. Therefore, fractional ownership that partially relieves customers from responsibility, costs, and commitment is gaining popularity. Such a form of ownership is particularly interesting for consumers who value experience over possessions. Planned spontaneity allows customers to use bulky and otherwise rarely used items. With online access, customers are able to book them in advance and use when needed.

Managing Service Delivery

Managing service delivery process requires a seamless flow from specifications (service-level agreements, SLAs) to operational performance metrics including the aspects of quality and flexibility. Coproduction challenges the delivery process as customer may own and control the physical asset. Managing the installed base and assets which are customer’s or third party’s property is a typical feature of advanced industrial services.

Improving Marketing and Operations Strategy Through Industrial Services

Industrial services can be used to support the marketing and operations strategy of an industrial firm. The possibilities include using the coproduction aspect in customer relationship, transforming the business toward service-dominant logic, using service offering and delivery as part of global expansion strategies, and redesigning the service delivery by analyzing and developing the service supply chain structure.

Servitization: Service Infusion in Manufacturing

Extending a company’s offer beyond manufacturing has become an effective way of increasing profits and staying ahead of competitors. It is difficult to pinpoint the emergence of servitization. Many researchers in the field, such as Vandermerwe and Rada (1989), claim that servitization is occurring on a global scale, and manufacturing organizations are unable to avoid the transition toward extending their offering.

Lean implementation and a process approach – an exploratory study

This paper proposes, that without acknowledging that lean adoption needs to reach beyond the shop floor, it cannot be sustained, and neither is the transformation into a truly lean enterprise possible. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap in the scientific knowledge regarding the challenges of lean adoption in manufacturing organizations. The underlying assumption is that successful and sustainable adoption of lean should be approached from the perspective of business process change (BPC). By applying the logic of BPC to manufacturing environments, and by exploring the opportunities for lean implementation that reach far beyond manufacturing, the study is expected to contribute to the development of the existing knowledge.,The research objectives were achieved by conducting the qualitative case study. Two case companies were chosen based on their differing approaches to the introduction and implementation of lean initiatives. Data were collected through in depth, semi-structured interviews supported by shop-floor observations.,The paper provides insights into how can lean implementation be facilitated while a systematic, BPC is utilized. By contrasting the two cases, meaningful conclusions were drawn and certain managerial implications outlined.,This paper presents a new approach to lean implementation and aims to bridge both the theoretical and empirical gaps between the concepts of lean implementation and business process management.