Services

Clearly defined objectives and a systematic risk assessment are the prerequisite for efficient customer integration. Here we show that the core to achieve this is: (i) a workshop-based process for planning and integration of customers into the development of services and (ii) a structured data base of customer integration methods. Out of this database an individual set of methods - depending on the task and the context - can be composed.

As a consequence of globalized markets product development and engineering functions increasingly work in globally distributed teams. To overcome challenges of global engineering processes, leading companies employ IT applications for storing knowledge centrally and accessing it locally. Typical IT applications however are not sufficient for engineer-to-order products, i.e. products that are engineered and built to the particular specifications of a customer. This paper explores on the example of a large elevator manufacturer how knowledge-intensive tasks can be coordinated and executed globally, efficiently combining the distinct capabilities of distributed engineering sites.

In increasingly competitive markets professional service firms are highly recommended to continuously scrutinize and improve the efficiency of their job execution. Providing content-related high quality services, such as technical or business consulting, the respective sub-processes as well as each single activity have to be coordinated effectively and required information needs to be provided completely and in time. Thereby, requirements of an operation at different sites have to be considered, both at the customer’s and the company’s own premises, concerning various areas and locations. This article is an abstract of the problem, the solution and the project-related findings based on a practical example.

Due to increased global competition as well as decreasing product margins industrial services are becoming increasingly important also in manufacturing companies. In parallel, the complexity of the service networks necessary to perform the different services continuously rises, leading to major challenges for these companies. In order to meet these challenges, companies rely on improved transparency. An important tool to achieve this is the introduction of KPIs to measure the performance of industrial services. In this paper we present results of an ongoing research project and describe the essential performance dimensions that must be considered for the planning and control of industrial service networks.

Technological progress, stringent competitive conditions and continually changing customer behaviour force the logistics industry to develop innovative solutions to generate long-term competitive advantage. Compared to the development of physical products, a systematic innovations management has not been established in logistics yet. Grounded in the analysis of interviews with experts from industry, this article puts forward requirements with respect to innovation management implementation and suggests the use of specific methods.

Facing increasing competition through globalization and short innovation cycles industry leaders need to include services in their innovation strategy. The WIN-model shows that combined strategies for product and service innovation are creating sustainable competitive advantages. Enhancing product offers with complex services and service solutions are long-term investments to sustain USPs. Integrated product and service innovation to create service solutions require deep understanding of customer needs. Delivering such services lead to close interaction with the customers which are not visible for competitors. To provide service solutions, services need to be included in the corporate innovation strategy. Services need to be driven by the C-suite. Great services will push the image and branding of your company and interaction with customers will push product innovation. A WIN-WIN situation!

In the last few years industrial companies remark that industrial services offer an interesting opportunity for companies to improve their company performance. To exploit this opportunity these companies have to clearly distinguish themselves from their competitors. Against this background the question what are the decisive factors of success for industrial services have to be explored. In an empirical study we got evidence that the success factors depending on different kind of services. Furthermore the following article discusses reasons for the interesting empirical results achieved.

Competence in building more innovative ships will help the German Maritime Industry guaranteeing its existence under competitive conditions in respect to Asia. The realistic visualisation with Virtual Reality (VR) enables the demonstration of the shipyard’s design competence to the customer in an early stage as well as the discussion of design decisions and their implications between ship yard and supplier. Using the example of shipbuilding, the article shows which changes in the business processes of a company are essential for an efficient use of VR and which add-ons are necessary for a user-oriented ease of operation.