Autor: Peter Barbian

In today’s competitive environment, product enhancing technical services (service products) are increasingly perceived as success factors in the production industry. Consequentially, there is a need for practically oriented models for systematic service product design. This paper defines service products and describes their functions and corresponding design dimensions. Furthermore, a recently developed phase model for systematic service product design is introduced, based on which an approach for the design of technical product service systems is presented. The approach aims at exploiting the largely unused potentials of the distribution and service network partners with which many production companies work together.

Due to the dynamic production environment with its multiple fast changing influences, planning and reconfiguration cycles in production have become shorter. In this context, changeability and flexibility of production systems are major factors for success. The paper defines changeability and describes flexibility as major base for changeability. With the concept of Production Projects an innovative and promising concept is introduced that supports the systematic optimization of flexibility and that links the lifecycles of products and production. Furthermore, the Flexibility Mode and Effect Analysis (FlexMEA), on which the systematic analysis and optimisation of flexibility is based, is presented.

In order to meet rising and fast changing requirements companies have to reconfigure their production systems in ever shorter periods. The temporary character of production systems, the rise of complexity as well as a rising number of intra- and inter-organizational cooperation are the logical results of this development. Managing the production as a project is an innovative and promising concept for coping with the resulting challenges. This article introduces the concept of a Project-oriented Production and describes a way for the cooperative planning and designing of modular production systems within 3D planning rooms.