Nina Löfberg

Service innovations in manufacturing firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe certain critical dimensions related to service innovation in manufacturing firms. The paper focuses on dimensions related to the service transition, the offering and the development project.Design/methodology/approach – A multiple case study was conducted in order to trace specific service innovations and to explore critical dimensions and events throughout their development. A total of 16 interviews were held, covering service innovations in SKF, Volvo Buses, and Volvo Trucks.Findings – Each of the three service innovations studied are examples of recombinative innovations. While there are some differences in terms of what is innovative, a common theme is the bundling of technology and services. Recombinative innovation opens up the possibility to combine standardization and customization, which has been identified as a success factor for services in manufacturing companies.Originality/value – Although a large number of manufacturing firms a...

Service strategies in a supply chain

Purpose – The paper seeks to investigate how and why service strategies differ among manufacturing companies at different positions in a supply chain.Design/methodology/approach – The research was based on a multiple case study of three original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) – a heavy truck provider, a bus provider, and a construction equipment provider – and eight of their suppliers in the automotive industry. A total of 19 semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews were conducted with managers, including service managers, production managers, marketing managers, and chief executive officers.Findings – A companys choice of service strategy appears to be influenced by its position in the supply chain. Whereas the OEMs were all after‐sales service providers, the suppliers were either development partners or had a customer service strategy. The main reasons for the difference in strategies seem to relate to differences in customer demand, the products to which the services were related, and the size of the comp...

Understanding new service development and service innovation through innovation modes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of innovation modes in understanding challenges of integrated NSD and NPD, and the use of structured NSD processes in manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a two-stage multiple case study. The first stage is an interview study of 17 key informants representing manufacturing firms in the machine industry. The second stage is an in-depth study of three service innovations at three manufacturing firms based on 16 interviews with key informants. Findings – The results of the study show that NSD processes are often more structured if the service is developed separately from the product. The fact that different innovation modes benefit from varying degrees of structure in the development process means that integrated service development can be challenging. Furthermore, service innovations often follow a trajectory of innovation modes before succeeding in the market. Some innovation modes occur within the NSD process, while others occur outside the process. One success factor for NSD is the fit between the innovation modes and the NSD process, rather than the NSD process per se. Originality/value – This research uses innovation modes to explain why NSD in manufacturing firms is often performed on an ad hoc basis, and how service innovations go through a trajectory of innovation modes. In this way, the study contributes to theory development of service innovation, and specifically service innovations in manufacturing firms.

Service manoeuvres to overcome challenges of servitisation in a value network

When manufacturing firms increase the share of service revenues, managing service provision becomes challenging. This study extends previous research on servitisation in individual firms by analysing the challenges service provision creates in a value network. The challenges are identified both within the firms and in the business relationships in the value network. In addition, the paper identifies and describes service manoeuvres firms use to address challenges resulting from servitisation. This case study of a value network is based on interviews carried out at 13 firms in the automotive industry, including suppliers, original equipment manufacturers and consultancies. The research shows that service manoeuvres, such as new types of resource integration and value constellations, are used to overcome challenges in the value network.

Servitization of Capital Equipment Providers in the Pulp and Paper Industry

The digitalisation of society and a reduction in the need for printed media has resulted in dramatic changes to the pulp and paper industry. During the past 10 years, investments in this industry decreased by approximately 40 %. Consequently, service provision has become more important and a larger portion of the business of many capital equipment providers. This chapter describes and discusses the servitization of capital equipment providers regarding technology, business model, offering, organisation and network. Technology is a driver of servitization in the pulp and paper industry and it has introduced a wide range of new offerings for customers. A key issue for capital equipment providers have been to start charging for services, i.e. to turn services for free to services for fee.