Methodology for the implementation of subscription models in mechanical and plant engineering

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Günther Schuh
• Subject Area: Production Systems, Operations Management, Quality Management and Factory Planning ; Engineering Design, Machine Elements, Product Development
• Term: from 2022 to 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 513121577

• Final Report Year: 2025

Final Report Abstract

The mechanical and plant engineering industry in Germany is undergoing a far-reaching transformation that is forcing companies to realign their strategy. A key driver of this is the increasing intensity of international competition, which results in products from competitors that are similar in quality but lower in price. To counter this, the development of product-service systems and service-based business models is focused. Subscription models are considered to have great potential for the mechanical and plant engineering industry, as they intensify interactions with customers, fulfill individual requirements and introduce results-based pricing. This potential has already been demonstrated in the consumer goods sector and in initial pilot applications. However, the introduction of a service-oriented business model is associated with several challenges. The overarching target of the research project was therefore to design an implementation process for subscription models for result-oriented product-service systems in the mechanical and plant engineering sector to maintain sustainable competitiveness. In a total of six work packages, subscription models were described, implementation activities were identified, cause-effect relationships between the implementation activities were derived, and finally, the process was designed. Simultaneously, the results were continuously validated using case studies from industry and results were documented and published.

Publications

• Concept for the Portfolio Management of Industrial Solution Providers in Machinery and Plant Engineering. Procedia CIRP, 119, 1152-1157.
  Riesener, Michael; Kuhn, Maximilian; Boβmann, Carsten & Schuh, Günther
  
• Planning of Hybrid Portfolios for Industrial Solution Providers in Machinery Engineering. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering, 407-416. Springer Nature Switzerland.
  Boßmann, C.; Kuhn, M.; Riesener, M. & Schuh, G.
  
• Analysis of the Implementation Process for Subscription Models regarding Enablers for Sustainability. Jahreskongress der Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft für Produktionstechnik (WGP) vom 2. bis 4. Dezember 2024 in Chemnitz
  Smerz, J.; Boßmann, C.; Keuper, A.; Riesener, M. & Schuh, G.
  
• Establishing Sustainable Business Models Through Subscription in Machinery and Plant Engineering. 2024 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), 1-9. IEEE.
  Riesener, Michael; Keuper, Alexander; BoBmann, Carsten; Smerz, Jonathan; Schulz-Isenbeck, Timm & Schuh, Günther