Abstract
In times of globalization and saturated markets, requirements change significantly. A possibility to adapt to this can be found in the integration of products and services into so called Product-Service Systems (PSS). Migrating from a manufacturing company to a solution provider raises different challenges though, especially in the early phases of product development. The strategic question if an implementation of PSS is an appropriate step for a company has to be evaluated carefully. Therefore it is necessary to approximate this problem with a well-defined holistic approach which includes not only generating ideas but also identifying the needed competences. This paper introduces the InnoFunc®-approach for developing PSS successfully in the early phases and identifying the needed competences.