Machine Tool Industry: Beyond Tradition?

Service infusion in the machine tool industry is regarded as a key-competitive factor for the future of this strategic sector and of manufacturing companies that use machine tools for production. This chapter illustrates the findings of a research that was conducted at European level to assess the state of the art of servitization in the machine tool sector and to outline future challenges. Through quantitative research, five clusters of machine tool servitizers were identified, distinguished by the type of service value proposition and the service supply chain configuration. Clusters outlined that, even if the offering of services is very spread in this sector, the servitization process is far from being mature. In fact, the type of offered services are mainly product-related services, many servitizers resulted not to have adapted their supply chain to the service business, and the most advanced service strategies observed in the sample did not lead to additional financial benefits. To allow the in-depth interpretation of these findings, qualitative research aimed at understanding the cultural and managerial approach of clustered servitizers was conducted. A conservative cultural approach was recognized as a strong barrier to servitization. It generally derives from low service competences, but it can also be generated by customers’ unbalanced contractual power, which forces machine builders to enter the service arena without being prepared. Case study research permitted also to identify few companies being a successful example of advanced servitization. By analysing their example, it was clear that a proactive attitude to service innovation and the approach to servitization as a multidisciplinary structured change management project can represent a key-success factor. Managerial implications are presented at the end of the chapter, together with suggestions for future research.