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ScienceDirect Procedia CIRP 16 (2014) 217 – 222
Product Services Systems and Value Creation. Proceedings of the 6th CIRP Conference on Industrial Product-Service Systems
Operationalizing IPS² development process: A method for realizing IPS² developments based on Process-based project planning Hoai Nam Nguyena*, Konrad Exnera, Christian Schnürmachera, Rainer Starka,b b
a Chair of Industrial Technology, TU Berlin Pascalstraße 8-9, 10587 Berlin, Germany Division of Virtual Product Creation, Fraunhofer IPK Berlin Pascalstraße 8-9, 10587 Berlin, Germany
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49-30-39006-247; fax: +49-30-3930246. E-mail address:
[email protected]
Abstract By offering Industrial Product Service Systems (IPS2) to their customers companies differentiate themselves from their competitors. However, companies are still facing the problem of a more complex and challenging development process which causes an increasing demand for new methods and tools for the integrated development of products and services. Although a generic PSS development process [4] has been developed within the scope of the Collaborative Research Center Transregio 29 (CRC TR29) to provide guidance for IPS2 development, a method for operationalizing this generic process and therefore supporting companies in planning integrated IPS2 development projects, is still missing. To overcome this shortcoming, a method for operationalizing the mentioned generic PSS development process was developed within the CRC TR29. This method describes a systematic approach for transferring the generic PSS development process into concrete project plans considering project specific boundary conditions within a project management software. Basis of the operationalization is the process-based PSS Development Project Management approach [3], which enables a straightforward, standardized and consequently a complete and high quality project plan. In this paper, the method for operationalizing IPS² development process will be lilustrated by a test case of a crane manufacturer.
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of “The 6th CIRP Conference on Industrial ProductSelection and peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of “The 6th CIRP Conference on Industrial Service Systems” in the person of the Conference Chair Professor Hoda ElMaraghy.
Product-Service Systems” in the person of the Conference Chair Professor Hoda ElMaraghy” Keywords:Industrial Product-Service System; process-based PSS development; PSS Operationalzation Method
1. Introduction Product-Service Systems (PSS) represent a novel understanding of solutions consisting of technical products and services offered within innovative business models. To provide these solutions companies often include other elements like software or infrastructure in this system. Thus companies transform themselves into solution providers by offering new and individual solutions. In business to business (B2B) area these are called industrial product-service systems (IPS²). A crane manufacturer, for instance, is not selling a crane, but offers a guaranteed availability of the product. The transformation of companies into IPS² solution providers requires a new mindset, structures and supporting
methods as well as tools to cope with the new challenges in global markets. This transformation is a major challenge for many interested businesses. In German-speaking countries a reluctance regarding this point is noticed, because of risk and effort issues. An implicit usage of combined products and services is visible, but a clear commitment is missing [1]. Companies still do not know what it means to really provide an IPS² - changing the known mindset and integrating new methods and tools. The shortcoming of adequate IPS² methods and tools, which could be easily adapted or applied in different use cases, could be a possible explanation for the lack of IPS² providers. The implementation of new methods is often introduced by research or cooperation projects, which is the
2212-8271 © 2014 Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of “The 6th CIRP Conference on Industrial Product-Service Systems” in the person of the Conference Chair Professor Hoda ElMaraghy” doi:10.1016/j.procir.2014.01.024
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current status of IPS² development. In research, different PSS development processes have been developed and evaluated. However, “most process models are too general to help project planning” [2]. An operationalizing of these processes has not yet been conducted [3]. Therefore, a further development regarding the usability of these methods in practice is a key aspect in IPS² development. In this paper the operationalizing of the generic PSS development process by Müller [4] is being adjusted and described in detail. Moreover, a test case will be introduced, in which the above-metioned operationalizing method will be illustrated. 2. Research Methodology In this chapter the research approach to develop the method for operationalizing the IPS2 development process is being described. The approach is structured in four parts. Literature research Initially, a literature research regarding operationalizing approaches has been conducted and two main concepts have been identified: Firstly, workflow management focuses on modelling business flows and (partly) automation of business processes supported by information technology [5]. For this purpose, several aspects need to be considered: x x x x x x
Detailed definition of activities and deliverables Fixing process sequences Defining responsibilities Coordination of dispersed activities Monitoring of process progress Support of information technology
The limitation of this concept are the strictly planned processes with low flexibility. Therefore, this concept is inadequate to use for project planning. Secondly, process-based project management is based on standardized, thus easy and fast planning of processes. The completeness and quantitative high quality result in an increased planning security [6]. Project management processes as well as the classical product development process are common examples. The weakness of the concept is a specific adjustment of development processes and a recurring manually planning effort. Synthesis of a new method A synthesis of results of the literature research and the experience in projects as well as workshops with industry partners concludes in the operationalizing method based on process-based project management, which will be presented in section three.
Test cases The new method has been tested in different projects and test cases: x Demonstrator of the Collaborative Research Center (CRC)TR/29 x MicroEnergy Supply System (MESUS) x Transfer project T04 of the collaborative research center CRC TR/29 in the crane industry The method has been refined in an iterative and continual improvement process by including the feedback from the usage. Evaluation In this step, the method will be assessed by experts of the domain. The evaluation of the method is not finished yet. The process is planned and partly executed in a two-tier procedure. The method is firstly presented to international research experts (Japan, England, Sweden, German) as well as experienced IPS² users in industry in the field of IPS². Secondly, telephone interviews are conducted. 3. A method for realizing IPS² developments based on Process-based project planning The method for operationalizing IPS² development process supports potential IPS² providers with their intention to develop an IPS² by assisting them at the planning of the development project. The method describes four main areas, which need to be taken under consideration at the detailed planning of the development project of an IPS²: “deployment of development projects”, “multi project management”, “planning and dealing with milestones” as well as providing an “IT assistant” for project management (fig. 1). The consideration area “planing and dealing with milestones” considers the challenge of planning the process of achieving milestones. Hence the arrangement of the work process to pass the milestone successfully is the focus here. The consideration area “multi project management” deals with the aspect of designing the collaboration with partners to provide an IPS² solution. Thus, the integration of partners in the IPS² design process, the assignment of the responsibility of the workpackages as well as validation and synchronization of developed reults are the main topic here. To make this method easy to use, a project management software should be provided. It would help managing the IPS² development process as well as provide mechanism to easily adjust the process to the boundaries of the use case. This software would be provided within the works on the “IT assistant”. In this paper the “deployment of development projects” is described in detail, whereas the other areas will be described in future works.
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Deployment of development projects
IT Assistant
Operationalizing IPS² development process
Multi project management
Planning and dealing with milestones Figure 1. Areas of operationalizing IPS² development process and the focus of this paper
Deployment of development projects The first consideration area “deployment of development projects” describes an approach for a deployment of a project in four steps based on a generic process by Nguyen et al. [3]. The approach divides the deployment in two sections: the “preparation of the company specific tailoring” and the “tailoring the project plan”, which is the special approach for project planning included in “project management”. To envision the approach, a test case with a German crane manufacturer will be presented. Even though, the crane manufacturer already offers products as well as services, he is new to the field of IPS2. 3.1. Preparation of the company specific tailoring To operationalize the IPS² development process for a specific company, a special preparation need to be done for this company. The preparation of the company specific tailoring takes three phases which are described below. Phase 1: Derivation of a detailed, company specific IPS² development process The first phase of this approach postulates to define a detailed, company specific IPS² development process. To help companies in determining their detailed, company specific IPS² development process, a detailed IPS² development process has been designed and presented [7]. This process describes the critical phases of IPS² development which are divided by gates. The gates serve as checkpoints for ensuring the quality of the contents of the phase. Moreover, it illustrates the essential areas of activities of IPS² development and their interaction. This process can be used as a reference process for companies to define their own detailed, company specific IPS² development process. Phase 2:Derivation of company specific IPS² project categories and types In the second phase of the approach, company specific project types and project type variants should be defined.
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Based on research results, four project types have been defined: “Complete IPS² development”, “IPS² concept development”, “IPS² detailed design and prototyping” and “Implementation of an IPS²”. “Complete IPS² development” comprises project type variants, where an IPS² provider develops the IPS² from the scratch to after the implementation of the IPS² at the customers site. “IPS² concept development” includes project type variants, where the aim is to develop an IPS² concept, which could fulfill different aims like generating new product ideas or designing new business models. “IPS² detailed design and prototyping” covers project type variants, which aim for detailed design of an IPS². The aim of the “Implementation of an IPS²” projects is to provide an IPS² to the customer and contracting the business relationship. The description of all project type variants would exceed the scope of this paper. But for a better understanding of what they are, the project type variant chosen in this test case will be described later. Phase 3: Derivation of company specific boundary conditions for IPS² development The third phase of the approach describes the definition of boundary conditions and their effect on the activity groups. The suggested boundary conditions include three special aspects of the IPS² development and their corresponding activity groups: x Elements of an IPS² that still need to be developed – while developing an IPS², four main types of IPS² elements need to be considered due to their differences and the differences of their development activities: technical product, service, software, and operational environment. x Partner integration in the development process – if a partner is needed to design an IPS² he needs to be properly integrated into the development process to ensure the success of the project. x Customer analysis – the deep understanding of the operational environment of the planned IPS² is the key to successfully develop customer oriented, low-risk and profitable solutions. (esp. for available oriented and result oriented business models) In this test case, the crane manufacturer wanted to try out the new development process to see its potentials without restriction. Therefore, he has decided to take over the suggested detailed IPS² development process. Furthermore, the suggested project categories and types as well as boundary conditions have been taken over. Thus, there were no changes required. 3.2. Tailoring the project plan To adjust the IPS² development process to the boundary conditions of the project, the project plan will be tailored. The tailoring is described with the example of the following test case.
To clarify the constraints of this IPS² development project,
Figure 2. Detailed IPS² development process
Legend:
Define a collaboration plan for the integrated development of IPS² elements
Specify IPS² elements and their interfaces
Detail the use cases for the IPS² usage
Define a strategy to bind customers
Make detailed design for the operational environment
Develop software
Make detailed design for services
Make detailed design for the p product
Finalise the business model
Activities not concidered after Tailoring step 1
Design the PSS business model
Conduct integrated reviews
Supplyer analysis
Design marketing strategy
IPS² detailed design
Integrate the partner in the IPS² development
Analyse partnarships
Analyse own potentials for the chosen concepts
Calculate lifecycle costs
Specify lifecycle risks
Create IPS² concepts
Develop use cases for the IPS² usage
Prepare an organisation for PSS development
Verify PSS concept with corporates strategy
IPS² concept modeling
Optional activity groups
Integrate customer in the IPS² development
Analyse possible partnarships
Analyse own potentials
Calculate rough lifecycle costs
Identify rough lifecycle risks
Generate a rough concept for the realisation
Analyse customer
Verify project with corporates strategy
Required aktivity groups
Operating environment development
Software engineering
Service development
Product development
Business modell development
IPS² development management
Corporate management
IPS² planning
Test the environment in the context of IPS² Make adjustments to the operational environment
Test the environment in the context of IPS² Make adjustments to the operational environment
Test the software in the context of IPS²
Test the software in the context of IPS²
Make adjustments to the software
Implement services
Prepare the service personal for tests
Make adjustments to the software
Make adjustments to the service design
Test the service in the context of IPS²
Test the service in the context of IPS² Make adjustments to the service design
Make adjustments to the product design
Test the product in the context of IPS²
Conclude a contract for providing IPS²
Define a collaboration plan for prototyping
Make adjustments to the product design
Test the product in the context of IPS²
Define a collaboration plan for prototyping
Adjust IPS² concept
Order the additional elements
Test the whole IPS² Handover the IPS² to the customer
Implement the IPS²
IPS² implementation
Prototype the whole IPS²
IPS² prototyping
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To clarify the constraints of this IPS² development project, the PSS Layer method [15] has been used. Based on this, a rough idea of the IPS² was developed. The IPS2 considered in the test case, will be provided to all customers of the industrial partner. This means, it is not a development on an order of a specific customer. The product element of this IPS² is an industrial crane which already exists. Thus, it does not need to be developed. In addition, services of this IPS² are the provision and analysis of use data of this crane as well as the derived potential for optimization regarding maintenance intervals and repair processes. Hence, the reliability and lifetime of the crane, which is a part of this IPS², will be improved. As a result, this will reducer lifecycle costs of the crane. Tailoring step 1: After clarifying the starting position of the development project, the detailed development process is tailored for the first time. In this tailoring step, the irrelevant activities of the process is sorted out (fig. 2). At first the aim of the project is specified and the development phases are checked for relevance relating to this specific project. If a relevance is not given the complete phase is deleted from the project plan including all phase-specific activities. In this project the crane manufacturer will develop the complete IPS² from the scratch. Hence, he has chosen the project type variant “Complete IPS² development – new development”. This means all of the development phases as well as their activities will be relevant for this project. Afterwards three special aspects of the IPS² development and their corresponding activity groups are reviewed with respect to the considered project: x Elements of IPS² that still need to be developed – The product element of this IPS2 is a specific hardware which will be attached to an existing crane. This hardware collects operating data and transfers it to a database. In addition to the product module, the service components are the provision and analysis of this data as well as the therefrom derived optimized maintenance intervals and repair processes. Hence, the IPS² will improve the crane reliability and lifetime which will lead to lower lifecycle costs. In this IPS² development process the core product is not modified, thus the activities of the product development can be deleted. Furthermore, the operating environment of the IPS² is already well known. This data only need to be provided for further development. Hence the activities of the development of the operating environment can also be deleted. x Partner integration in the development process – for the given project idea, the crane manufacturer does not need a partner since he can develop all of the needed elements himself. Thus, the activity “integration of the partner in the IPS² development” will be deleted. x Customer analysis – due to a long-term relationship all customers and the operating environment of the planed
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IPS² are well known. Therefore, an additional customer analysis is not required. Tailoring step 2: After the described first two tailoring steps, the order of the remaining process steps needs to be defined. Even though the project unspecific process proposes an activity sequence, the process specific process can deviate from it. Hence, the development process starts with the project initialisation and the project definition, in which, for instance, the project objective and the temporary project priority are defined. Afterwards, the project needs to be verified with the corporate strategy before a general project plan is created. Subsequently, a detailed project plan for concept modeling is created and project risks are analysed. Next, the company needs to be prepared for the development project. This step includes, for example, teaching PSS methods and the allocation of appropriate resources. Afterwards, the IPS² concepts is designed, for instance, by using the IPS²-LayerMethod. In the test case, the IPS² concept includes the already existing crane as the core product and several services like the provision of data, reports or concrete recommended actions. In contrast to the core product, the identified services have not already been developed. In addition, the concept shows the need of a software. The next step is to design the IPS² business model. In this step activities like defining the architecture of value creation or the risk model of the IPS² are done. Afterwards, one of the designed concepts is chosen, after a verification with the corporate strategy. Following a marketing strategy is designed. After choosing the concept new information about the planed IPS² available and thus the development process needs to be revised. In this case, the choices from the 1 Tailoring step are still valid and therefore the development process does not need to be adjusted. The next steps are the development of the service and software components, which run in parallel. To make sure that the software and the service components match at the end of the development, many communication points are needed between these two process steps. This is defined in the detailed project plan for detailed design. After developing individual components, the steps “Virtual IPS2 testing and adjustment” and “Physical IPS2 testing and adjustment” close the IPS2 development process. 4. Final considerations The presented method aims to provide an assistance for manufacturers at the planning of IPS² development projects. The acceptance of the method by the manufacturers is therefore one of the most important aspects that has been considered while developing the method. Thus the methods should be easy to use and provide measurable advantages comparing to the traditional method. Hence, a project manager should be able to plan a complete IPS² development project while saving time spending for the planning using this method.
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To evaluate the new method, a first application for planning an IPS2 development process of a crane manufacturer has been conducted. The feedback from the usage of the method was positive. The method was found easy to use in the test case and took less time than planning the development process from scratch. Especially, companies with little IPS2 development experience benefit from this method as it supports them to plan and execute integrated and complex development projects with the required knowledge. The final development process is so far complete regarding all necessary generic process steps. Thus, the new operationalization of the PSS development process by Müller enables non IPS² provider to successfully plan an IPS² development. Besides, these benefits and the application of the method showed some improvement potential. Although the process is much more detailed than the generic IPS2 development process [4], a closer description of the specified steps was found useful. In addition, providing respective methods and tools for specific development phases (like the “IPS2-LayerMethod” [15] for the phase “Conceptual design”) would be helpful. Thus, project managers would obtain a better understanding of the specific tasks. In a next step the planned IPS² development will be further conducted in collaboration with the crane manufacturer. Besides, the already identified improvement needs, the thereby identified findings will be used to improve the operationalized IPS² development process. Moreover, an IT assistant at planning IPS² development projects will be developed. Furthermore the new method should be evaluated in more cases with industrial partners while taking under consideration their relevant performance metrics like cost, resources or quality. References [1] Müller P. Integrated Engineering of Products and Services. Layer-based Development Methodology for Product-Service Systems. Stuttgart: Fraunhofer IRB.
[2] Gericke K, Blessing L. Comparisons of design methodologies and process models across disciplines: a literature review, International conference on engineering design; 2011. [3] Nguyen HN N, Müller P, Stark R. Transformation towards an IPS2 business: A deployment approach for process-based PSS development projects. In Shimomura, Y. (ed.) Proceedings of 4th CIRP International Conference on Industrial Product-Service Systems, Tokyo; 2012. [4] Müller P, Stark R. A generic PSS development process model based on the theory and an empirical study. In: Marjanovic D, editor. 11th International Design Conference. Zagreb: 2010. [5] Krallmann H, Schönherr M, Trier M. Systemanalyse im Untrrnehmen [System analysis in organizations]. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag GmbH. Auflage: 5; 2007. [6] Skimin WE. A Process-Based Model for Project Planning and Management. In: PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE 28th Annual Seminars & Symposium Chicago; 1997. [7] Nguyen HN, Woll R, Hayka H, Stark R. HLB-Entwicklungsprozess im Kontext des Systems Engineerings [PSS development process in the context of Systems Engineering]. Tag des Systems Engineering [Day of Systems Engineering]; 2013. [8] Pahl G, Beitz W, Feldhusen J, Grote KH. Engineering Design: A Systematic Approach, 3rd edn. Springer, London; 2007. [9] Verein Deutscher Ingeniere [The Association of German Engineers]. Design methodology for mechatronic systems. VDI 2206. Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, Düsseldorf; 2004 [10] Verein Deutscher Ingenieure. Systematic approach to the development and design of technical systems and products. VDI 2221. Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, Düsseldorf; 1993. [11] Shostack GL. Designing Services that deliver, Harvard Business Review January-February; 1984. [12] Scheuing EE, Johnson EM. A proposed model for new service development, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 3 Iss: 2; 1989. [13] Bochning H, Uhlmann E, Nguyen HN, Stark R. general Data Model for the IT Support for the Integrated Planning and Development of Industrial Product-Service Systems. In: Meier H, editor. Proceedings of the 5th CIRP International Conference on Industrial Product-Service Systems, Bochum, Germany; 2013. [14] Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V (ed.) [German Institute for Standardization]: DIN-69901 – Project management – Project management systems, Beuth, Berlin; 2009. [15] Müller P, Kebir N, Stark R, Blessing L. PSS Layer method - application to microenergy systems. In: Sakao T, Lindahl M. (Hrsg), Introduction to product/service-system design. Springer, Berlin; 2009.
