Future oriented planning of product-service systems

Abstract

Currently, innovations in product development are often implemented through a shift towards product-service systems. Thereby, products are combined with additional services, whereas this integration of both disciplines causes a new complexity. This complexity combined with a future oriented perspective requires a systematic support for planning these product-service systems. Core aspects are the reduction of uncertainty and a better preparation for future evolvements. This contribution presents a procedure that connects a systematic analysis of the future environment with the product-service system. The impact of future contextual influences on the product-service system is assessed by a future-oriented requirements specification. Consequently, the procedure transfers planning information into an engineering perspective. In order to ensure the procedure’s applicability, a case study was performed in the innovative sector of autonomous driving in cooperation with a company from the German automotive industry.