Applicability of Agent-Based Modeling for Supporting Product-Service System Development

In comparison to traditional product development the concept of product-service systems (PSS) integrates the traditional functionality of a product with services. This offers several advantages for involved stakeholders, such as added value for the customers and long-term customer relationships or more sustainable products by long-term product lifecycles. This conceptual change results in new challenges for the development and organization of PSS. This paper discusses PSS development and modeling as well as indicates limitations in tools and methods to model and simulate dynamic behavior of PSS based on literature. The approach of agent-based modeling (ABM) is a fairly new dynamic modeling approach and has been rarely discussed in PSS literature. As a bottom-up approach it represents system components as a collection of autonomous decision-making entities called agents. The agents have their own individual set of rules or behaviors by which they operate and interact with each other in a certain environment. These characteristic features seem to be a promising approach to support PSS development. The objective of this paper is to prove this assumption and to disclose areas where ABM can be used in PSS development. In this paper ABM is used to simulate the distribution of the e-bike sharing system PSSycle. The model shows on an exemplary use case of the PSSycle the minimal amount of e-bikes which should be distributed in a certain area to ensure an increasing user satisfaction with the PSSycle. The case study demonstrates the applicability of ABM to support PSS development. The results of the case study are also used to discuss further applications of ABM on PSS development.

[1]  A. Srivastava,et al.  International Journal of Mathematics and Computers in Simulation , 2007 .

[2]  Tobias Larsson,et al.  SUPPORTING DECISION MAKING WITH AGENT BASED MODELLING AND SIMULATION , 2008 .

[3]  Mario Boßlau,et al.  Design and Engineering of Dynamic Business Models for Industrial Product-Service Systems , 2013 .

[4]  M. Rese,et al.  An Ontology of Business Models for Industrial Product-Service Systems , 2013 .

[5]  Steve Evans,et al.  Influencing Factors of Successful Transitions towards Product-Service Systems: a Simulation Approach , 2009 .

[6]  Ben J Hicks,et al.  International Design Conference - DESIGN 2006 , 2006 .

[7]  Rajkumar Roy,et al.  A review of product–service systems design methodologies , 2012 .

[8]  Wander Jager,et al.  From the Special Issue Editors: Agent-Based Modeling of Innovation Diffusion , 2011 .

[9]  Adrian Tan,et al.  Characteristics of Strategies in Product/Service-System Development , 2006 .

[10]  Keijiro Masui,et al.  A Simulation Method of Dynamic Systems Applied to Backcasting Scenario Design , 2013 .

[11]  Oksana Mont,et al.  Clarifying the Concept of Product-Service System , 2002 .

[12]  A. Tukker.  Eight types of product–service system: eight ways to sustainability? Experiences from SusProNet , 2004 .

[13]  A. Borshchev,et al.  From System Dynamics and Discrete Event to Practical Agent Based Modeling : Reasons , Techniques , Tools , 2004 .

[14]  Peggy Zwolinski,et al.  A model for designing product-service systems using functional analysis and agent based model , 2007 .

[15]  Tobias Larsson,et al.  Development of product-service systems: challenges and opportunities for the manufacturing firm , 2009 .

[16]  J.D. Sterman,et al.  System Dynamics Modeling: Tools for Learning in a Complex World , 2001, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[17]  T S Baines,et al.  State-of-the-art in product-service systems , 2007 .

[18]  Eric Bonabeau,et al.  Agent-based modeling: Methods and techniques for simulating human systems , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[19]  Andreas Größler,et al.  Emergent structures in supply chains - a study integrating agent-based and system dynamics modeling , 2003, 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2003. Proceedings of the.

[20]  Nicola Morelli,et al.  Developing new product service systems (PSS): methodologies and operational tools , 2006 .

[21]  John D. Sterman,et al.  Business dynamics : systems thinking and modelling for acomplex world , 2002 .

[22]  David Langley,et al.  22nd International Conference of The System Dynamics Society , 2004 .

[23]  John D. Sterman,et al.  System Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World , 2002 .

[24]  Sergio Cavalieri,et al.  System Dynamics modeling for Product-Service Systems. A case study in the agri-machine industry , 2010 .

[25]  K. Kuntzky,et al.  Car and Ride Sharing Concept as a Product Service System – Simulation as a Tool to Reduce Environmental Impacts , 2013 .