Mattias Lindahl

Product design for product/service systems : Design experiences from Swedish industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to elucidate how Swedish industry has adapted theirproducts for product/service systems (PSS).Design/methodology/approach – Three case study companies that manufacture forklift trucks,soil compactors and household appliances are studied. Interviews with company staff are conducted aswell as product analyses in laboratorial environment. The theory is based mainly on previous PSS,design and remanufacturing research.Findings – A key factor when developing products for PSS is to design the product from a life-cycleperspective, considering all the product’s life-cycle phases, namely manufacturing, use, maintenanceand end-of-life treatment. Many of the design improvements deal with the accessibility of parts andcomponents during maintenance and remanufacturing operations, and several of them could reducethe need and cost for maintenance, repair and remanufacturing.Research limitations/implications – Uncovering any additional product requirements needed fora successful PSS not addressed in this paper. For example, it could be interesting to explore whichproduct data could be collected during use in order to improve the products’ different life stages.Practical implications – The findings in this paper illustrate and describe many industrialimplications for engineering designers to consider when developing PSS.Originality/value – The novelty of this paper is aimed for designers to study how they can adapttheir future products used in PSS in a more beneficial way than in traditional product design. Thepaper shows ideas and general guidelines to follow which have been scarcely published.

Introduction to product/service-system design

The growing need for companies to address service design, as well as product design, in an integrated manner is becoming increasingly important across a number of industries. Product/Service System ...

Rethinking product design for remanufacturing to facilitate integrated product service offerings

An increasing number of manufacturers have started to sell their products through integrated product service offerings. These offerings can preferably be connected to remanufacturing systems. In order to achieve a successful remanufacturing process, there must be an efficient take-back system - and preferably good product designs. In this paper, we have highlighted the design for remanufacturing aspects found in our research with remanufacturing companies.

Integrated Product and Service Engineering versus Design for Environment : A Comparison and Evaluation of Advantages and Disadvantages

The objective with this paper is to, from several perspectives including those found in the traditional Design for Environment (DfE) literature, compare and evaluate advantages and disadvantages between the concepts of DfE and Integrated Product and Service Engineering (IPSE). Lessons learned from the use of DfE have been integrated into the IPSE methodology.

A Design Process Model and a Computer Tool for Service Design

Manufacturers at present face new circumstances in terms of consumer services and serious environmental problems. An effective way to deal with these circumstances may be to pursue qualitative satisfaction rather than quantitative sufficiency. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of Service Engineering, including the service design process model, to increase customer satisfaction. The redesign of services offered by a global warehouse manufacturer is used as an example of the application. Four redesign options, such as rapid delivery of components and a robust electrical system, were generated. The effectiveness of the method was demonstrated by the application.Copyright

E-FMEA-a new promising tool for efficient design for environment

This paper starts with a discussion of the importance of environmental demands in the early design process and the demands on an efficient DfE-tool for small and medium sized enterprises. It continues with a presentation of two quite common DfE-methods, life cycle assessment and checklists/guidelines. This presentation is followed by a presentation of a new DfE-method named E-FMEA (environmental failure mode and effects analysis), previously presented by Nilsson et al. (1998). The paper presents and discusses advantages and disadvantages of these three methods. For the E-FMEA method we also present some results from case studies. A figure is presented in an attempt to show where the three above DfE-methods are most fruitful to use. Finally we present some ideas of further research on the E-FMEA-method.

Remanufacturing of Products used in Product Service System Offerings

As a product service system provider it is important to consider its benefits and drawbacks. Connecting the product service system with a remanufacturing system has a good potential of being economically and environmentally beneficial. This paper elucidates the case of three different remanufacturers and how their relation with their core provider affects their business. Products sold as a part of a product service system have great potential of being remanufactured in an efficient manner. This is for example due to large possibilities to plan the remanufacturing operations and to achieve pre-information about the cores coming in to the remanufacturing facilities.

Learning networks : a method for Integrated Product and Service Engineering - experience from the IPSE project

The aim with the Integrated Product and Service Engineering (IPSE) project is to develop a methodology for companies that want to make the journey of moving from selling products to also sell Integrated Product and Service Offerings. In order to achieve that major changes are needed in the companies. In this paper the learning network approach is described as well as the content of the workshop series that the companies participated in. The findings show that a learning network approach is beneficial methodology for achieving changes in the companies, since the participants learn from each other and from the researchers.

Environmental effect analysis - how does the method stand in relation to lessons learned from the use of other design for environment methods

The paper presents Environmental Effect Analysis (EEA), which is a qualitative method for DfE. This method has been developed in close co-operation with the industry. The method is designed to be used in the early phases of product development and also considers the economical and technical aspects. The paper starts with a literature review of general lessons learned from the use of DfE methods. Then it gives a presentation of the EEA method. Finally the paper discusses the development in comparison to other DfE methods and describes experiences from the use of the EEA method.

Achieving mass customisation through servicification

Manufacturing companies face many challenges today, one of theseis how to successfully meet increasingly diverse customer needs. This could beachieved through customisation. This paper elucidates h ...