Servitization: A model for the transformation of products into services through a utility-driven approach

Abstract

The economies of the industrialized world have become dominated by services. Many manufacturing companies have changed from producing products to providing services. However, many companies still lag behind in this transformation. It is observed that most of the published methodologies are at an advanced level and provide minimal assistance to help managers and especially the managers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who are interested in easy-to-use methodologies for transforming their product range. Therefore, a model that assists the transformation of products into services is proposed, which is at a level that can be directly applied by SMEs. A utility-driven approach is followed to establish the model that consists of seven steps. In the initial steps, a product that is to be servitized is selected and broken down into its utility features and customer barriers. Furthermore, options for increasing utility and reducing barriers are presented such that the overall tangibility of the existing product is reduced. This reduction in tangibility in both physical and psychological dimensions is defined as servitization in the present study. This article presents a practical framework for the transformation of company offerings so that they are gradually adjusted to a service economy.