An evaluation scheme for product-service system models: development of evaluation criteria and case studies

Abstract

A product-service system (PSS) integrates products and services to fulfill customer needs and create sustainability. PSS evaluation requires the use of diverse criteria because PSSs are complex systems with multiple stakeholders and perspectives. This paper proposes an evaluation scheme for PSS models that consists of a set of 94 evaluation criteria and an evaluation procedure. The proposed set of criteria encompasses both provider and customer perspectives, all of the 3P (profitability, planet, and people) values and various PSS lifecycle phases, whereas existing studies only partially cover these aspects of PSS. The proposed set serves as an evaluation criterion repository, and users can easily identify the criteria relevant to the evaluation targets. Using the proposed set is more efficient than starting from scratch. The proposed evaluation scheme can be used either to compare different PSS models or to evaluate a single model. Case studies show that the proposed scheme can sufficiently evaluate both existing and newly launched PSS models as well as models under development. The proposed scheme is expected to serve as an efficient and effective aid for practitioners in PSS development.