Developing a service knowledge reuse framework for engineering design

Abstract

The manufacturing industry is shifting its emphasis from a traditional supplier of products to a supplier of increasingly integrated products and services, or product-service systems (PSSs). The new paradigm of PSS requires new design methodologies and supporting tools for the effective design and delivery of these enhanced services and integrated PSSs. A case study has been carried out to identify and classify service knowledge applied in practice, both in the service operation and in product design. This paper describes the service issues and service knowledge that has an impact on product design. An initial attempt is made to describe the role of service knowledge in design and also to describe in detail how to apply service knowledge in the conceptual design stage based on an existing requirements management framework modified for this context. This research makes an important contribution to the developing knowledge and information requirements of PSS design.

Keywords:

• product-service systems
• technical services
• service knowledge
• design requirements

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on a research project funded by Cranfield IMRC/EPSRC and Rolls-Royce Plc. The researchers are also grateful to Edwards Ltd for their in-kind support and to the members of the Decision Engineering Centre.