Service engineering framework: The adoption of simulation to design and configure Product-Service solutions (original) (raw)
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The application of simulation to product service systems: a review (wip)
Summer Computer Simulation Conference, 2017
One innovative strategy among product manufacturers is to compete through the delivery of services to their clients. The range of advanced services provided by these manufacturers are underpinned by a system known as product-service systems (PSS). Based on a literature review, a description of a PSS with its dynamic behaviour is provided. Three PSS modelling and simulation methods (system dynamics, discrete event simulation and agent based simulation) and the nature of their application in the context of PSS are identified and discussed. Results indicate DES as the mostly used simulation approach accounting for over 50% papers reviewed due to its ability to model the dynamic behaviour of PSS over time. Previous and current research have focused on the design and in-service phase of PSS lifecycle phase. The choice of specific simulation method is dependent on the objectives intended, which include optimization of design configuration during the design and development phase and performance evaluation and optimization of resource utilization during the in-service phase of a PSS lifecycle. An area for further research is the application of simulation as a tool for cost analysis and cost estimation.
Simulation Modelling of Product-Service Systems: the Missing Link
Proceedings of the 36th International MATADOR Conference, 2010
The Product-Service Systems (PSS) concept requires effective management of resources and supply networks in the long term which involve greater uncertainties than that in the productionbased system commonly found in manufacturing companies. This calls for a tool capable of evaluating the impacts of the shift of the business strategy to tactical and operational levels to help firms make decisions. The demand signals between production-based systems and PSS are typically different due to the customer involvements in service activities after product selling. For this reason, existing decision making tools in the production-based context may not be capable to suitably model PSS businesses. Simulation techniques can be used prior to the physical design of complex systems that incorporate internal interactions between entities in supply networks. This paper explores the application of simulation modelling within the PSS context. The current state of simulation modelling of PSS is summarised and the simulation parameters typically used in PSS modelling are described. The analysis shows various shortcomings of work in the literature. Existing simulation modelling approaches should, in fact, be enhanced to address different levels and types of performance measures required in PSS.
A Critical Evaluation and Comparison of Simulation Packages for Service Process Engineering
One of the major difficulties encountered by companies nowadays is related to the engineering of service and product-service systems (PSS), including the definition of methods and techniques supporting their design and development. It is noteworthy to state that, in order to make PSS and service provision profitable in the long term, it is of utmost relevance to balance the excellence in the value provided to the customer with a high efficiency and productivity of the service processes, eventually to increase company's revenues. However, only a limited number of methods and practices have been developed specifically for service and PSS engineering. Most of them have been developed principally with the aim to design solutions able to satisfy customer needs, neglecting or underrating the efficiency aspect. In this respect, we posit that Discrete Event Simulation (DES) can effectively support managers in analyzing the equilibrium between customer satisfaction and internal efficiency.
Evaluation and Assessment of Two Simulation Software for Service Engineering
Serviceology for Services, 2014
The service industry is recognized as a central element of modern economies. Services represent an important topic both for practitioners and researchers: although they may contribute substantially to a company's bottom line, they still lack of a methodological support and a systematic study for the design phase. To make service provision profitable in the long term, it is of utmost relevance to balance the excellence in the value channel to the customer with a high efficiency and productivity of the service processes. In this respect, simulation can support companies during their service engineering process by providing a support in the identification of the best scenario, as well as a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the company's decisions. Nonetheless, no specific service oriented simulation software is available on the market. Therefore, this paper aims at comparing two simulation software solutions originally oriented to the manufacturing area. Through a real-case example, we discuss a comparative analysis between two widespread commercial simulation software, evaluating which one is the most suitable to be used in the service contexts.
Simulation Driven Design for Product-Service Systems
Total Offers, Functional Products, and Integrated Product Service Engineering reflect a shift toward service offers from manufacturing industry captured within the term Product-Service Systems (PSS). Manufacturing companies have traditionally focused design and development activities on realizing technical and engineered aspects of physical artifacts, while PSS include deeper understanding of customers’ expectation, needs and perceived value, hence calling for modelling of additional aspects. The change in early design processes and the effects on virtual modelling of product properties are discussed in this paper through aerospace industry examples to clarify ‘parameters of change’, giving suggestions for a simulation driven design (SDD) approach.
Discrete-Event Simulation for Specification Design of Products in Product-Service Systems
Proceedings of the Design Society: DESIGN Conference, 2020
Boundaries between products and services vanish and companies increasingly offer hybrid solutions known as Product Service Systems (PSS). Thereby, a holistic view that includes both the product and service parts must be taken. This paper presents a discrete-event simulation of a PSS as a method for the specification of the product part. Besides product and service, the application scenario and the decision-making are also modeled. Based on the results for a case study, the customer requirements could be guaranteed as the essential product specifications were optimized to minimize total costs.
Product-Service Systems Modelling and Simulation as a Strategic Diagnosis Tool
IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2013
Manufacturers have developed Product/Service-Systems (PSS) strategies to increase their competitiveness and reach objectives of profitability, satisfying customer's specific and evolving needs as well as environmental needs in term of grasp reduction and pollution decrease. Despite, the announced success of such a strategy, industrialists fears that the strategy will not give the expected results. To avoid unsustainable developments and reach productservice systems features, manufacturers are looking forward methods and tools that can help them predicting an a priori level of performance of the whole system they intend to design in terms of sustainability, use, profit, etc. Precisely, we aim at proposing a demonstrator able to support decision in the design of new sustainable and eco-efficient product-service system.
A discrete-events simulation approach for evaluation of service-based applications
2008
One of the promises of the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is to build complex added-value services in order to enhance and extend existing ones. Service-Based Applications (SBAs) are asked not only to perform required functionalities, but also to deliver expected level of Quality of Service (QoS). Dealing with QoS management of such distributed applications, which are executed in dynamic environments, raises the need to consider context characteristics. This paper proposes a discrete-events simulation approach which assures the evaluation of SBAs performance under different context status. The main contributions of this paper are: (i) the discrete-events modeling approach for SBAs, (ii) the context-based model for SBAs considered in the discrete-events simulation model, and (iii) the evaluation of a set of QoS metrics by simulation.
Business process simulation for the design of sustainable Product Service Systems (PSS)
Nowadays, a lot of manufacturing companies are shifting their value proposition from a product-centric perspective to sustainable Product-Service-Systems (PSS). This transition allows companies to improve the customization of their offer and to contribute to the reduction of material flow and consumption; nonetheless, it poses some new challenges in terms of mindset and organization. In particular, the analysis of the literature about PSS shows that there is still a gap concerning the evaluation and the monitoring of new or reengineered PSS provision processes using business process simulation. Few examples of simulation in PSS field can be found, and multidimensional models considering customer perspective and environmental sustainability beyond the economic driver are not yet available. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to compare different simulation paradigms and to define the most suitable to support the engineering phase of a sustainable, customer-oriented PSS. Two possible alternatives were identified and discussed through a test-case.
IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2014
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.