Redefining Organisational Capability for Value Co-creation in Complex Engineering Service Systems

Abstract

Creating value in any service market depends on many key factors. These include the ability to work closely with customers, partners and suppliers; the ability to anticipate customers’ future requirements; and the ability to integrate and optimise business processes, people, tools and information to create value-added service systems and solutions. In today’s business environment, increased pressure on budgets means that customers are increasingly looking for greater value for money, and long-term service contracts to support complex engineering products are becoming the norm. Customers for complex engineering products are not passive recipients of goods; they recognise the need for close integration of service systems with their own business systems and are taking an active role in working with their suppliers to ensure those services deliver the outputs they need in an affordable way. BAE Systems is not only one of the world’s largest manufacturers in the defence, security and aerospace sectors; it is also one of the largest service pro- viders in this industry. We have some of the best engineers in the world, creating highly complex engineering solutions for our customers, and providing support and services for these products requires complex engineering service systems. As well as integrating industrial capabilities, complex service systems are often embedded within a customer’s organisation, with multiple supply chains and an extensive network of subordinate service providers. The field of complex engineering service systems is a developing area of interest for both ourselves, as industrial practitioners, and the academic researchers with whom we collaborated in the areas described in this book. As an organisation we have had the privilege, along with the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, of supporting the research undertaken by the Support Service Solutions: Strategy and Transformation Project (S4T), upon which this book is based. The research carried out in this field has helped us to explore and address the complexity of the challenging new environment in which our business operates to support our customers better. Working with the S4T researchers and academics has given us insights and different perspectives into what underpins value-added ser- vice offerings. Complex engineering service systems do require new ways of thinking; changes in mindset and an evolution in business models, processes, organisation, tools and information management, to deliver continually improving performance over product lifecycles that span decades. Our commitment to research in this field is about investment in our future, to maximise our potential and to provide the highest levels of service and best value for money for our customers. I am proud that BAE Systems has supported the work described in this book. It follows many years of association between people in the company and the Uni- versity of Cambridge and its Institute for Manufacturing, and other institutions. The result is a very powerful mix of academic research, innovation, rigour and above all systems thinking, all being driven by clear business requirements as we break new ground in this field. I am delighted to see the results of these collab- orations being published.