Operationalizing IPS2 development process

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.