PSS Economic Model Simulation and Risk Assessment: Lessons from an Industrial Case Study

In the past years, the convergence between digitalisation and servitization, driven by Industry 4.0 paradigms, has led to Smart PSS offerings. To implement smart PSS, distinct business models can be considered, for instance based on product rental or leasing. This change of business paradigm affects all kinds of companies. It is notably the case for heat appliances manufacturers (Gas boilers, heat pumps, etc.), with products that can be rather expensive. In this context, data acquisition is not only useful during the product lifecycle—allowing to monitor the behaviour of the product for instance-, but can be also used during the design phase of the whole value network to determine its overall achievable value. This chapter presents a simulation approach to evaluate the economic performance of alternative business models and associated value networks and to support decision making when selecting among the various models. This contribution focuses on the economic risk assessment of alternative PSS and smart PSS business models. The results show that, depending on the objectives, smart PSS are not always as profitable as expected and that each actor may favour his proper business model, thus leading to a necessity of negotiation to converge to a consensus.