PSS board: a structured tool for product-service system process visualization

Abstract

The product-service system (PSS) is a system in which its integrated products and services jointly fulfill customer needs. The current research proposes a structured tool called the PSS Board to visualize the PSS process. This is a matrix board where the customer activities, state of the products, services, dedicated infrastructures, and partners are placed in rows, and the general PSS process steps are placed in columns. The visualized PSS on the board shows how the PSS provider and its partners aid customers' job execution process. Previous PSS cases are visualized based on the proposed PSS Board; the utility of the PSS Board is also identified. The current research can serve as an effective basis to analyze PSS from the perspective of fulfilling customer needs, thus supporting companies in diagnosing and elaborating their respective PSSs. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.