Engineering Network Configuration: Transition from Products to Services

Abstract

Existing approaches to the design and operation of engineering networks are largely product-oriented and pay little attention to the intangible, customer-involving and relationship-based nature of services. With the trend of servitization in manufacturing companies and the emergence of service science, manufacturers, particularly those who are engaged with complex and long-lifecycle products and systems, need to update their engineering networks to support integrated product-service offering. This paper develops a conceptual framework to demonstrate the configuration features of product- and service-oriented engineering networks. It will provide theoretical insight and practical guidance on the design and operation of integrated product and service systems.