Designing the sustainable product-service integration: a product-service blueprint approach
Introduction
Today, the body of literature has been almost unanimous for the needs of sustainable production and consumption which aims at the sustainable and environmentally-oriented design and production (Mont, 2002, Manzini and Vezolli, 2003, Morelli, 2006). This paradigm shift cannot be separated from the concept of functional economy which regards the function as a key to customers’ satisfaction (Stahel, 1989, Stahel, 1997, Mont, 2002). In a functional economy, what the customer actually purchases is the function instead of products; for example, mobility instead of cars, cleaning services instead of washing powders and movies instead of videocassettes (Mont, 2002). The value is delivered through the provision of services, providing the desired function that a customer wants to get. What is notable is that all these paradigm shifts are to improve the “sustainability” in production and consumption.
As a direct means for achieving sustainability, product-service system (PSS) has been discussed as a key concept. It is defined as “a system of products, services, networks of players and supporting infrastructure that continuously strives to be competitive, satisfy customer needs and have a lower environmental impact than traditional business models” (Goedkoop et al., 1999). Since PSS accompanies the paradigm shift toward functional economy with lower environmental impacts, it differs from traditional production offering from various perspectives including the role of producers and consumers, its organizational basis, design particularities, and environmental profile (Mont, 2002).
Dealing with these differences, many studies have been conducted regarding the PSS. What is at the core among many research agenda is, obviously, the design. It is by no means surprising, since the design stage determines the characteristics of PSS as well as the quality of PSS (Hara et al., 2009, Kimita et al., 2009). Since the PSS encompasses the product behavior along the product life cycle, the service flow of customers and providers, and the interactions between different actors involved (Boughnim and Yannou, 2005), the effective design of PSS is the key to the success of PSS. For this reason, the PSS design has been highlighted both in the academia and practice.
Recognizing the importance of PSS design, there have been some methodological supports for the PSS design, suggesting the methodology for PSS development such as Kathalys method (Luiten et al., 2001), DES (design of eco-efficient services) (Brezet et al., 2001), PSS innovation scan for industry (Tukker and van Halen, 2003), SPSD (Sustainable Product and Service Development) (Maxwell and van der Vorst, 2003), HiCS (Highly Customerised Solutions) (Manzini et al., 2004), MEPSS (Methodology for Product-Service System development) (Van Halen et al., 2005), and practical guide for PSS development (Tukker and Tischner, 2006). These methods provided the concrete framework and systematic process for the PSS development, from strategic analysis to the actual development. Most of these methods provide not only the systematic process for the PSS development but also the relevant design tools which can be effectively used to design the PSS in each stage. The design tool is the key to the PSS development, since it can design the actual relationship between PSS elements, illustrating the actual concept of PSS.
Therefore, many design tools have been developed to facilitate the development of PSS. To illustrate, the stakeholder motivation matrix, the interaction storyboard, the solution element, and system maps have contributed to the PSS design (Verkuijl et al., 2006). These work as a series of formats for ‘Design Plan’ to represent the PSS effectively (Manzini et al., 2004). More specifically, the stakeholder motivation matrix provides the matrix to fill the contribution, the benefit, and the synergies of stakeholders. The interaction storyboard also points out the steps of interaction between different actors. The solution element brief provides the breakdown of solution elements and their attributes to each of the actor, using the matrix-shaped structure. The system map provides the illustration according to the actors. The area is distinguished based on actors participated in the PSS. However, these tools mainly focus on identifying the conceptual level relationship between actors, for example, filling in the stakeholder’s matrix with related actions, or explaining the experience of the final user as well as the various stakeholders along the performance of the solution.
Even if this is significant and cannot be neglected, what is more important in a practical situation is to represent the flow or relationship of PSS activities in detail, including the product-service interaction in detail. Besides, even if previous methods are powerful and effective, these are suitable for the conceptual development of PSS rather than the detail design stage, since it shows the relationship between actors as a main focus to clarify the conceptual relationships, not focusing on the relationship between PSS elements or activities.
Therefore, for the purpose of detailed design of PSS, a service blueprint has been employed to represent the flow of activities of the PSS, even if it is not a design tool for PSS. The service blueprint is an effective tool for modeling the service system describing the activities and time for the service system (Shostack, 1982, Fließ and Kleinaltenkamp, 2004). Using the service blueprint, Boughnim and Yannou (2005) provided a map of the PSS system using the service blueprint as a means to model the PSS. As well, Morelli (2006) employed the service blueprint to represent the PSS, adding some indication required to provide the useful implication. A unified design method was also proposed to integrate products and service activities using the service blueprint (Hara et al., 2009, Shimomura et al., 2009).
Even though these methods can provide a good representation for PSS, these are limited to simply borrowing the existing service blueprint. Therefore, the representation of PSS might be skewed to the representation of service, which cannot represent the PSS characteristics. However, PSS is an integrated offering composed of products, services, and infrastructures, not a single product or service. Although the service blueprint can provide the effective way for the service design, it needs to be modified to clearly represent the innate characteristics of PSS when applied to the PSS design; the components of PSS are of course different from traditional offerings, many different actors exist, the role of products or services is different, and so on.
In response, this paper proposes a new and effective design tool for PSS: a product-service blueprint. The reason why we employ the service blueprint is twofold. Firstly, the core characteristics of PSS are inseparable from the service. The value of PSS is delivered by the provision of services rather than the provision of products. Therefore, despite coming from two different points of view: products and services, the design of PSS should be mainly focused on the provision of desired service. Secondly, the service blueprint provides the simple but clear representation of service system in terms of actor behavior, sequential progress, and spatial relationship. Therefore, the service blueprint is employed as a starting point of PSS design tool.
Even though the service blueprint can be employed as a good starting tool, it is not enough to illustrate the PSS effectively. Therefore, differentiated from previous research, this paper introduces the new area and relevant symbols to the service blueprint, suggesting a revised tool for PSS design. It illustrates the product behavior, service activities, and underlying supporting activities to provide the implication of how products and services can be integrated to provide the sustainability and customer value. Using the product-service blueprint as an analytical lens, PSS can be effectively represented by the clear understanding of product use throughout the life cycle, the service flow from the management to the customer, and the relationship between products and services.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The next section deals with the related studies on PSS: the concept of PSS and tools for PSS design. Following on this, the concept and structure of product-service blueprint are proposed with the case examples, providing the managerial implications. Finally, the summary and limitations of this study are given in Conclusion.
Section snippets
Product-service system (PSS)
Since this paper aims to propose the “product-service blueprint” for designing the PSS, it is important to capture the distinctive characteristics of PSS. This section deals with the related literature of PSS, from definition to the designing tools.
Product-service blueprint as a new design tool for PSS
This section proposes a “product-service blueprint” which models the concept and process of PSS. The product-service blueprint proposed in this paper conceptually stems from the service blueprint. Taking the notion of service blueprint, this paper extends the service blueprint to the product-service blueprint by employing additional areas, lines, and appropriate symbols reflecting the PSS characteristics.
Case example
To illustrate the working of the proposed approach, two case examples are illustrated: the car-sharing and the water purifier service.
Managerial implication
With the proposed product-service blueprint and the illustrative example, some implication can be obtained from in-depth investigation of activities, flows, and symbols. This implication provides the valuable insight to the managers who are in charge of PSS design or overall management.
Conclusion
This paper proposes a new and systematic way to provide the sustainable product-service integration. As a means for product-service integration, this paper suggests the “product-service blueprint” which stems from the service blueprint. Differentiated from previous research which simply employs the service blueprint, the suggested product-service blueprint can play an important role in designing the PSS, with full consideration of PSS characteristics. This approach has a unique value in that it
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MEST) (No. 2009-0085757).
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