Servicizing Solutions for Manufacturing Firms: Categorizing Service Ideas from Product-Service Integrated Examples

Abstract

The present study developed four servicing solutions building upon the systematic literature review including 80 product-service integrated examples from 2003 to 2015. Using both open and closed card-sorting methods with experts and novices respectively, the four categorized servicizing solutions were empirically verified. These include: (1) add a function with servicizing solutions, (2) offset a product’s weakness using servicizing solutions, (3) propose new user experience (UX) solutions, and (4) mix products-services on the other firm’s strengths (i.e. inter-firms cooperation). Our servicizing ideas may allow firms to practically mitigate the complexity for servicizing solution developments and co-create the ideas with designers and multiple stakeholders.

Keywords:

• servicizing
• card sorting
• cluster analysis
• product designer
• product-service integration