Industrial product-service systems (IPS²) represent a combination of interdependent product and service components developed to satisfy highly specific customer needs. One key challenge in the engineering of IPS² pertains to the successful integration of providers’, customers’ and suppliers’ heterogeneous expertise. While previous research mainly addresses this issue through the lenses of organization or automation, little attention has been paid towards integration through interaction. In this paper we therefore ask the question which competencies enable employees and teams in IPS² to successfully deal with heterogeneity thus taking advantage of its innovative potential. We use a a multilevel model of competence and specify it for the IPS² work system on the base of expert interviews. It becomes apparent that experts attribute successful IPS² performance especially to factors which increase perceived stability in flexible or heterogeneous work systems.
