Towards Consolidation on Product-Service Systems Design

Research on Product-Service Systems (PSS) has been carried out for many years and in various disciplines. Nevertheless, design guidelines and standards for industrial application are hardly available. Even a standardized terminology has not yet been developed. Consolidation of PSS approaches among research projects and industrial branches is rudimentary. This is an obstacle for companies to incorporate and deploy PSS design approaches and to introduce efficient work or communication processes with customers and suppliers. Meanwhile, standardization on PSS design is “moving into” research agendas. This paper is based on literature analysis, experience in industrially applied research, and standardization practice of the authors. The contribution elaborates on various viewpoints and frequently raised issues in PSS research, which are important in order to consolidate PSS design approaches.