A product/service system design schema: Application to big data analytics

Abstract

The challenge of environmental sustainability has required product/service systems (PSSs) to play a substantial role. New technologies such as big data analytics (BDA), which have high potential to improve or enable PSSs, are increasingly implemented in industry. However, research achieved in the past and research opportunities in the intersection of PSS design and BDA are unclear in the literature. Therefore, this article took an inter-disciplinary approach and aimed to pave the way forward for research and development in PSS design and show opportunities to improve PSS design and delivery using BDA. The research methods adopted were literature synthesis and systematic literature review. The synthesis of PSS design literature resulted in a schema consisting of 10 design steps for PSS conceptual design. The systematic review of BDA literature found 11 research works, including industrial applications, which were then mapped on to the PSS design schema. This revealed the achievement of applied research using BDA for some of the PSS design steps as well as opportunities of research for the others. The two inter-related areas of research, PSS design and BDA, were connected with each other more clearly, so that further research could be anchored and motivated with more specificity.