Model-Based Systems Engineering and Product Service Systems Design

A special issue of Systems (ISSN 2079-8954).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 24874

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Blekinge Institute of Technology, 371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden
Interests: engineering design; product service systems development (research and education); value-driven design; data driven design; design for circular economy; systems engineering (research and education)
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Guest Editor
Department of Industrial and Materials Science, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Interests: value-driven design; product-service systems; conceptual design; product development; value assessment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The creation of the conditions for living in a sustainable society is a key challenge for the current generation and the generations to come. As researchers and practitioners in the areas of systems engineering and product service systems (PSS) design, we are asked to contribute to sustainable and effective development by making the best use of the emerging technologies in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. Researchers have discussed the innovation potential driven by the servitization and digitalization phenomena in the design, development, and management of complex systems encompassing both product-centric and service-centric dimensions (Roy et al., 2009; Bertoni et al., 2016). Framework, methods, and tools for model-based systems engineering (MBSE) (Estefan, 2007) and PSS design and development have been proposed and applied in a number of industrial case studies, scraping the surface of potential innovative approaches capable of enabling a more effective and efficient development of complex systems, with the ultimate goal of delivering increased value for stakeholders and society as a whole.

This Special Issue invites scientific contributions proposing new, innovative, and original approaches for the development of complex systems and PSS solutions. The call especially targets advancements in research and practices in the field of MBSE and PSS design, with a particular interest in methods and approaches integrating a multistakeholder and sustainability perspective. This issue aims to provide an opportunity for academics and practitioners to share their theoretical and practical knowledge and findings in the field, with the ultimate aim to move the state-of-the-art and the state-of-the-practice forward.

 This Special Issue particularly looks forward to articles presenting, among others:

  • New methods for MBSE in PSS design;
  • Empirical studies on MBSE implementation in an industrial environment;
  • MBSE in new industrial applications (e.g., health engineering and design for additive manufacturing);
  • Issues and challenges in including sustainability considerations in complex systems design;
  • State-of-the-art review of MBSE in PSS design;
  • Simulations in PSS design;
  • Visualization in MBSE and PSS design;
  • Prototyping in MBSE and PSS design;
  • Collaboration in MBSE and PSS design;
  • Artificial intelligence and data-driven design in MBSE and PSS design;
  • Value-driven design methods in MBSE and PSS design.
Dr. Alessandro Bertoni
Dr. Massimo Panarotto
Guest Editors

References

  1. Roy, R., Shehab, E., Tiwari, A., Baines, T. S., Lightfoot, H. W., Benedettini, O., & Kay, J. M. (2009). The servitization of manufacturing. Journal of manufacturing technology management.
  2. Estefan, J. A. (2007). Survey of model-based systems engineering (MBSE) methodologies. Incose MBSE Focus Group, 25(8), 1-12.
  3. Bertoni, A., Bertoni, M., Panarotto, M., Johansson, C., & Larsson, T. C. (2016). Value-driven product service systems development: Methods and industrial applications. CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology, 15, 42-55.

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

32 pages, 3861 KiB  
Article
Pharmaceutical Product Modularization as a Mass Customization Strategy to Increase Patient Benefit Cost-Efficiently
by Maria Siiskonen, Johan Malmqvist and Staffan Folestad
Systems 2021, 9(3), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems9030059 - 6 Aug 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2948
Abstract
Customized pharmaceutical products aim to comply with the individual needs of a patient to enhance the treatment outcome. The current pharmaceutical production paradigm is, however, dominated by mass production, where the pharmaceutical products embrace a one-size-fits-all design with a low possibility of treatment [...] Read more.
Customized pharmaceutical products aim to comply with the individual needs of a patient to enhance the treatment outcome. The current pharmaceutical production paradigm is, however, dominated by mass production, where the pharmaceutical products embrace a one-size-fits-all design with a low possibility of treatment optimization to patient needs. This production paradigm is not designed or intended for customized pharmaceutical products and operating this production context for customized pharmaceutical products is argued to be cost-inefficient. To address this challenge of inefficient production of customized pharmaceutical products, this study proposes an approach to modular pharmaceutical product design. As a mass customization strategy, product modularization enables serving customers with customized products cost-efficiently. The proposed modular pharmaceutical products integrate three product design requirements originating from patient needs: a scalable dose strength, a flexible target release profile, and a scalable treatment size. An approach to assess the value of these product designs is presented, by means of proposing three benefit metrics complying with respective design requirements and a cost metric assessing the cost of producing these modular pharmaceutical product designs. Results suggest that pharmaceutical product modularization can, by keeping the number of produced components low, substantially increase the external product variety and, hence, enhance the treatment outcome of patients. Furthermore, results indicate that the achieved benefit for the patient through product modularization increases beyond additional costs arising during production. However, a careful modularization must be performed to optimize the tradeoff between the increased benefit and cost. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model-Based Systems Engineering and Product Service Systems Design)
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16 pages, 2802 KiB  
Article
Modeling for Rapid Systems Prototyping: Hospital Situational Awareness System Design
by Avi Shaked
Systems 2021, 9(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems9010012 - 1 Feb 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3683
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caught hospitals unprepared. The need to treat patients remotely and with limited resources led hospitals to identify a gap in their operational situational awareness. During the pandemic, Israeli Aerospace Industries helped hospitals to address the gap by designing a system [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic caught hospitals unprepared. The need to treat patients remotely and with limited resources led hospitals to identify a gap in their operational situational awareness. During the pandemic, Israeli Aerospace Industries helped hospitals to address the gap by designing a system to support their effective operation, management and decision making. In this paper, we report on the development of a functional, working prototype of the system using model-based engineering approach and tools. Our approach relies on domain-specific modeling, incorporating metamodeling and domain-specific representations based on the problem domain’s ontology. The tools practiced are those embedded into the Eclipse Modeling Framework—specifically, Ecore Tools and Sirius. While these technological tools are typically used to create dedicated, engineering-related modeling tools, in this work, we use them to create a functional system prototype. We discuss the advantages of our approach as well as the challenges with respect to the existing tools and their underlying technology. Based on the reported experience, we encourage practitioners to adopt model-based engineering as an effective way to develop systems. Furthermore, we call researchers and tool developers to improve the state-of-the-art as well as the existing implementations of pertinent tools to support model-based rapid prototyping. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model-Based Systems Engineering and Product Service Systems Design)
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17 pages, 3450 KiB  
Article
System Modelling and Analysis to Support Economic Assessment of Product-Service Systems
by Khaled Medini, Sophie Peillon, Martha Orellano, Stefan Wiesner and Ang Liu
Systems 2021, 9(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems9010006 - 21 Jan 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3022
Abstract
The evolution towards more customer-centric operations within manufacturing and service industries gave rise to novel ways of value creation and delivery such as Product–Service Systems (PSS). PSS integrate tangible and intangible elements to create new values for both customers and providers. Therefore, a [...] Read more.
The evolution towards more customer-centric operations within manufacturing and service industries gave rise to novel ways of value creation and delivery such as Product–Service Systems (PSS). PSS integrate tangible and intangible elements to create new values for both customers and providers. Therefore, a close collaboration is required among various actors in a value network to co-create values towards win–win gains. For companies to keep up with this pace, new decision support tools are needed to accompany PSS engineering and to adjust business models. This need is confronted with the scarcity of PSS-oriented economic assessment models and methods. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for the economic assessment of PSS. The framework relies on a novel combination of system modelling and analysis approaches to enable cost and revenue attribution to different actors in a value network. The applicability and relevance of the framework are demonstrated through a case study in the industrial cleaning sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model-Based Systems Engineering and Product Service Systems Design)
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14 pages, 1076 KiB  
Article
Design of Product–Service Systems: Toward An Updated Discourse
by Johan Lugnet, Åsa Ericson and Tobias Larsson
Systems 2020, 8(4), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems8040045 - 11 Nov 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3971
Abstract
The engineering rationale, composed of established logic for the design and development of products, has been confronted by a shift to a circular economy. Digitalization (e.g., Industry 4.0) enables transformation, but it also increases relational complexities in scope and number. In Product–Service Systems [...] Read more.
The engineering rationale, composed of established logic for the design and development of products, has been confronted by a shift to a circular economy. Digitalization (e.g., Industry 4.0) enables transformation, but it also increases relational complexities in scope and number. In Product–Service Systems (PSSs), the combination of manufactured goods and services should be delivered in new business models based on value-adding digital assistance. From a systems science view, such combinations cannot be managed by the same approach as if they were one uniform system; rather, it is an interdependent mix of technical, social, and digital designs. This paper initializes an updated conceptual discourse on PSSs and provides a reflection on the expected challenges in the transformation from linear to circular models. For example, the role of systems thinking to guide early design stages is discussed and the importance of processes for creating shared visions at different systems levels is suggested to be addressed in future research. The intention is to formulate thoughts about radical cognitive changes in order to realize the PSS paradigm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model-Based Systems Engineering and Product Service Systems Design)
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17 pages, 2587 KiB  
Article
Designing and Integrating a Digital Thread System for Customized Additive Manufacturing in Multi-Partner Kayak Production
by Euan Bonham, Kerr McMaster, Emma Thomson, Massimo Panarotto, Jakob Ramon Müller, Ola Isaksson and Emil Johansson
Systems 2020, 8(4), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems8040043 - 10 Nov 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3489
Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM) opens the vision of decentralised and individualised manufacturing, as a tailored product can be manufactured in proximity to the customers with minimal physical infrastructure required. Consequently, the digital infrastructure and systems solution becomes substantially more complex. There is always a [...] Read more.
Additive manufacturing (AM) opens the vision of decentralised and individualised manufacturing, as a tailored product can be manufactured in proximity to the customers with minimal physical infrastructure required. Consequently, the digital infrastructure and systems solution becomes substantially more complex. There is always a need to design the entire digital system so that different partners (or stakeholders) access correct and relevant information and even support design iterations despite the heterogenous digital environments involved. This paper describes how the design and integration of a digital thread for AM can be approached. A system supporting a digital thread for AM kayak production has been designed and integrated in collaboration with a kayak manufacturer and a professional collaborative product lifecycle management (PLM) software and service provider. From the demonstrated system functionality, three key lessons learnt are clarified: (1) The need for developing a process model of the physical and digital flow in the early stages, (2) the separation between the data to be shared and the processing of data to perform each parties’ task, and (3) the development of an ad-hoc digital application for the involvement of new stakeholders in the AM digital flow, such as final users. The application of the digital thread system was demonstrated through a test of the overall concept by manufacturing a functional and individually customised kayak, printed remotely using AM (composed of a biocomposite containing 20% wood-based fibre). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model-Based Systems Engineering and Product Service Systems Design)
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20 pages, 3216 KiB  
Article
The Model-Driven Decision Arena: Augmented Decision-Making for Product-Service Systems Design
by Johan Wall, Marco Bertoni and Tobias Larsson
Systems 2020, 8(2), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems8020022 - 18 Jun 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5810
Abstract
The shift towards Product-Service Systems (PSS) stresses the need to embed new and unique capabilities in Decision Support Systems, with the aim of helping the engineering team in handling the pool of information and knowledge available during decision events. Emerging from a multiple [...] Read more.
The shift towards Product-Service Systems (PSS) stresses the need to embed new and unique capabilities in Decision Support Systems, with the aim of helping the engineering team in handling the pool of information and knowledge available during decision events. Emerging from a multiple case study in the Swedish manufacturing industry, this paper describes the development of the Model-Driven Decision Arena (MDDA), an environment for collaborative decision-making that focuses on the early design phases of PSS. Based on the findings from multiple case studies, this paper illustrates the main goals of the MDDA, detailing its main functions, its physical environment, and its software architecture and models. This paper demonstrates the use of the MDDA in a case study related to the development of an asphalt compactor, presenting and discussing the results of verification activities conducted with industrial practitioners on the current MDDA prototype. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model-Based Systems Engineering and Product Service Systems Design)
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