Sustainable management of operation for Functional Products: Which customer values are of interest for marketing and sales?

The paper addresses which customer values, related to sustainable management of operation for Functional Products, are of interest during manufacturing companies’ marketing and sales processes. Based on an empirical study covering five manufacturing companies, a set of customer values, which are categorized using Hill’s [28] framework in order to understand whether they are important and why, is proposed. The analysis has generated a set of twenty-three potential values, whereof nine are considered as specific for contexts embodying Functional Products. Thus, the findings identify critical values to consider prior to, and when, selling Functional Products. Further, the results have important implications for the design and development of Functional Products in light of ongoing transformations within the manufacturing industry. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of “The 7th CIRP Conference on Industrial ProductService Systems” in the persons of the Conference Chairs Prof. Xavier Boucher and Prof. Daniel Brissaud.