Sustainability 2012, 4(2), 175-192; doi:10.3390/su4020175
Article

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

Ricardo J. Hernández Pardo 1,* email, Tracy Bhamra 1 email and Ran Bhamra 2 email
1 Loughborough Design School, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK 2 Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 1 November 2011; in revised form: 19 December 2011 / Accepted: 18 January 2012 / Published: 30 January 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Manufacturing)
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Abstract: 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.
Keywords: design for sustainability; Product Service Systems; ICT; SME; design; green operations; organizational transformation

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MDPI and ACS Style

Hernández Pardo, R.J.; Bhamra, T.; Bhamra, R. Sustainable Product Service Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Opportunities in the Leather Manufacturing Industry. Sustainability 2012, 4, 175-192.

AMA Style

Hernández Pardo RJ, Bhamra T, Bhamra R. Sustainable Product Service Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Opportunities in the Leather Manufacturing Industry. Sustainability. 2012; 4(2):175-192.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hernández Pardo, Ricardo J.; Bhamra, Tracy; Bhamra, Ran. 2012. "Sustainable Product Service Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Opportunities in the Leather Manufacturing Industry." Sustainability 4, no. 2: 175-192.

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