Sustainable Product Service Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Opportunities in the Leather Manufacturing Industry

This paper presents an approach to identify opportunities to develop sustainable Product Service Systems (PSS) involving Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of the research is to build understanding of how the integration of product and service design and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can contribute to identify opportunities to develop sustainable PSS involving SMEs. In order to develop the approach, research with 16 Colombian Manufacturing SMEs was carried out. A reference model and four generic types of PSS according to the relationships between product and service design and ICT are used to analyse the data. Finally, the possibility of extending the approach into a general framework to work with other industries is discussed.

[1]  R. Roy.  Sustainable product-service systems , 2000 .

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

[3]  Oksana Mont,et al.  Drivers and barriers for shifting towards more service-oriented businesses: Analysis of the PSS field and contributions from Sweden , 2002 .

[4]  Jacqueline Cramer,et al.  Barriers and stimuli for ecodesign in SMEs , 2002 .

[5]  Thomas Dworak,et al.  Environmentally friendly ICT-products , 2002 .

[6]  Angappa Gunasekaran,et al.  Product development process in Spanish SMEs: an empirical research , 2002 .

[7]  Dennis Pamlin.  Sustainability at the speed of light : opportunities and challenges for tomorrow's society , 2002 .

[8]  D. Maxwell,et al.  Developing sustainable products and services , 2003 .

[9]  Ezio Manzini,et al.  A strategic design approach to develop sustainable product service systems: examples taken from the ‘environmentally friendly innovation’ Italian prize , 2003 .

[10]  PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATIVE SMEs IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY TOWARDS A MORE RESPONSIBLE AND INCLUSIVE GLOBALISATION , 2004 .

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

[12]  Christine Van Wunnik.  THE FUTURE IMPACT OF ICTs ON ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY , 2004 .

[13]  Chris Ryan,et al.  Digital Eco-Sense: Sustainability and ICT – a new Terrain for Innovation , 2004 .

[14]  武彦 福島.  持続可能性(Sustainability)の要件 , 2006 .

[15]  Tracy Bhamra,et al.  The transfer and application of Product Service Systems: from academia to UK manufacturing firms , 2006 .

[16]  Arnold Tukker,et al.  Product-Service Systems: reviewing achievements and refining the research agenda , 2006 .

[17]  D. Probert,et al.  Development of a Design Audit Tool for SMEs , 2007 .

[18]  Christian Mascle,et al.  Integrating environmental consciousness in product/process development based on life-cycle thinking , 2008 .

[19]  P. Pontrandolfo,et al.  Investigating corporate social responsibility in supply chains: a SME perspective , 2008 .

[20]  David Ness.  Sustainable Product Service Systems: Potential to Deliver Business and Social Benefits with Less Resource Use , 2009 .

[21]  Brigitte Borja de Mozota,et al.  Managing Design as a Core Competency: Lessons from Korea , 2009 .

[22]  Mariëlle E. H. Creusen.  Research Opportunities Related to Consumer Response to Product Design , 2011 .

[23]  Thomas H. Davenport,et al.  The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign , 2011 .

[24]  H. Esslinger.  Sustainable design: beyond the innovation-driven business model , 2013, IEEE Engineering Management Review.