Lifecycle Management of Digitally-Enabled Product-Service Systems Offerings: The Next Challenge for Manufacturers

The number of servitized manufacturers is growing, along with the number of product-service system (PSS) offerings. Digitally-enabled PSS offerings can be complex value constructs comprising multiple products and services organized and executed to create new value for the stakeholders. Recent and past literature have focused on developing and commercializing such PSS offerings. While the most recent literature focuses on the role and influence of digital servitization and PSS theory, very few papers have introduced the need for investigating the lifecycle management of PSS offerings. The early contributions focus on lifecycle management frameworks and are mainly based on academic data, thus needing proper industrial validation. Therefore, this paper explores practitioners’ challenges related to the three main types of PSS offerings: product-oriented, use-oriented, and result-oriented. The paper’s results are based on insights generated by expert interviews from different industries. The results show a need for a systematic approach to the lifecycle management of digitally-enabled PSS offerings, especially for use- and result-oriented offerings. It is becoming more critical due to sustainability aspects.