The increasing digitalization of manufacturing is transforming product development towards intelligent, service-oriented systems. The existing literature shows the designing of smart vehicle will adapt to the scenario-driven of different activities in countries and cities. This study will explore a scenario driven design model for smart cockpits design based on Virtual Simulation technology and obtain design data through feedback from service industry, users, and then feedback to car companies to co-design the service offering of smart cockpit. A case is applied to the product development of a new Smart Electric VAN in collaboration with a global car manufacturer, the result of this study is based on the virtual simulation of the future service scenario in Europe. The research shows Virtual Simulation technology to enhance decision-making and prototyping for customizing the scenario-driven smart cockpits in early design stage. The smart cockpit design can be dynamically adjusted according to scenario changes to meet the cultural, regulatory and user needs of different city regions in Europe. This study verifies the effect of the scenario-driven design model in improving the adaptation of smart cockpits design to different city environments and optimizing passenger experience, while addressing its limitations and proposing future improvements.

Integrating sustainability into early product design stage is crucial for companies to navigate complexity effectively. Based on a long-term research collaboration with an aerospace product manufacturer, this paper introduces an improved prototype of the Sustainability Criteria and Product Life-Cycle Data Simulation digital decision-support tool for visualising and comparing the sustainability implications of product design concepts. Unlike existing tools, it allows quantitative comparisons in early design stages and is based on overarching socio-ecological sustainability principles and a backcasting perspective. A sustainability merit score for each product design concept is derived from selected indicators and sustainability criteria. The paper also reports on the results from a focus group evaluation study and discusses the value and challenges faced when developing this type of tool, including accuracy, data availability limitations, and the dilemma of indicator weighting. 

The increasing digitalization of manufacturing is transforming product development towards intelligent, service-oriented systems. This study explores the application of Digital Twins (DT) technology in smart Product Service System (sPSS) design, proposing a framework of Super-System Digital Twin (SSDT) and eXtended Reality (XR) for supporting design. The SSDT integrates service offerings, user scenarios, and product features throughout the design process. Case is applied to the conceptual design of a Smart Electric Tourist Bus in collaboration with aglobal manufacturer, the framework utilizes eXtended Reality (XR) environment to enhance decision-making and prototyping. This research validates SSDT’s role in fostering participatory design and collaborative innovation, while addressing its limitations and proposing future improvements.

Recent academic contributions explore the integration of Digital Twins (DTs) within smart Product-Service System (sPSS). This integration aims to innovate business propositions, hardware and services. However, gaps persist in developing DT environments to support early-stage collaborative innovation for sPSS, and limited studies explore how real-time synchronized digital replicas enhance value co-creation in this area. This paper addresses this gap by presenting a framework and practical example of integrating value-driven decision support into early sPSS conceptual design. A case study on the development of the Smart Electric Vehicle (SEV) conducted with a global automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) demonstrates the framework’s efficacy. Through qualitative data analyses based on experimental validation in a case company, the DT proves effective in aiding decision makers in selecting value-adding configurations within specific scenarios. Furthermore, the DT serves as a visual decision-making tool, fostering collaboration across diverse teams within the automotive company. This collaboration facilitates value creation across practitioners with varied backgrounds, emphasizing the DT’s role in enhancing early-stage innovation and co-creation processes in the sPSS domain.

When bus manufacturing companies move forward in their serviti- zation journey for providing service solutions for tourism industry, there is an increasing need to exploit the prototype way to support the realization of design solutions in the early stages of the Product Service System (PSS) design. Digital twin, a new emerging and fast growing technology which connects the physical and virtual world, has attracted much attention worldwide recently. This paper presents a new method for PSS design based on the digital twin approach. The development of product design is briefly introduced first. The framework of digital twin approach is then proposed and analysed. The main work in this research work is how to trade off the ‘realism’ of the design output of the virtual concept. A case is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed DT approach for prod- uct prototyping. Verification activities performed the case in a virtual simulation environment prototype the design concepts in the tourism industry.

The Product-Service Systems (PSS) methodology faces new challenges as digital servitisation drives product-oriented companies to integrate digital services into their offerings. A value co-creation strategy and global collaborative innovation are now essential for these companies to develop smart PSS models. This study introduces the Future Innovation Framework (FIF) which is proposed as a mechanism to facilitate value cocreation in smart PSS design, specifically tailored for global manufacturing contexts. Through qualitative analysis and literature review, the research investigates collaboration among key stakeholders, defines a structured smart PSS design process, and demonstrates how value co-creation can enhance design outcomes. The proposed FIF framework, applied to a Smart Electric Vehicle (SEV) case with Volkswagen, supports early-stage collaborative innovation and informed decision-making. This paper discusses the practical implications, challenges, and future opportunities of implementing FIF in industrial smart PSS design. Finally, the potential for adapting FIF across various industry sectors is explored.

This research investigates globally dispersed innovation teams involved in explorative projects within an engineering graduate course employing problem-based learning. Utilizing insights from a longitudinal study, the objective is to identify how to enhance both individual learning and team performance, thereby increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome. Initial observations revealed common patterns in learning experiences among the top-performing teams, prompting further investigation into how supporting cohorts might positively influence both team performance and students’ learning experiences throughout the course. In addition to advancing comprehension of innovation team performance, the study introduces two lightweight tools designed as shared visual representations of the team’s exploration journey. These tools can assist supporting cohorts in guiding teams effectively. This research augments the existing body of knowledge surrounding the achievement of breakthrough innovations. It provides understanding about how to facilitate team performance and individual learning within globally dispersed innovation teams undertaking explorative projects. The proposed lightweight tools offer practical solutions to enhance the supporting cohort’s ability to guide and impact team performance and individual learning experiences. This study holds implications for academia and industry, particularly organizations reliant on radical innovation for competitiveness and future-proving. Lastly, the study’s findings could inform the design and delivery of future problem-oriented, project-organized learning-based courses in engineering education.

Manufacturing companies are increasingly transitioning from a product-centric to a smart Product Service System (smart PSS) approach to enhance customer satisfaction, service offerings, and product competitiveness through a combination of usage scenarios and digital components. In the context of Industry 5.0 transformation such as developing the Smart Electric Vehicle (SEV), the automotive industry faces the challenge of understanding customers’ descriptions of usage scenarios and translating the qualitative aspects of these scenarios into quantitatively assessed product features for collaborative value co-creation in smart PSS design. This paper addresses this challenge through utilizing Natural Language Processing (NLP) joint with Value-Driven Design (VDD) method for successfully supported a collaborative value exploration of in the smart PSS design stage. A case study was collaborated with a global automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Volkswagen, through proposing a NLP BERT model for VDD of Smart Electric Vehicle (SEV) design. Validation activities were performed by deploying the developed BERT model to the case company based on the scenario design of new car models.

As manufacturing firms move from pure product-based business models toward Product-Service Systems offerings, value creation becomes more complex and requires more active cross-disciplinary collaboration. Especially non-functional values, those connected to the overall PSS behavior, depend on the successful alignment and coordination between perspectives. However, understanding the value creation itself, particularly among different departments or stakeholders, can be challenging. This paper conceptualizes a value model and a method based on Group Model Building to support value exploration of non-functional design objectives in early-stage Product-Service System design. The value model is constructed based on three layers of granularity to visualize how value is created holistically. Further, the proposed method allows participants to jointly explore and identify design objectives and put these in the context of value. The method and model were tested at two companies, showing that the proposed method and model successfully supported a collaborative value exploration in the non-functional domain. © 2023, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.

During the last decade, manufacturing companies have experienced an increased demand for solutions that promote socio-ecological sustainability. To succeed in the sustainability transformation, companies need to systematically and strategically implement sustainability performance in their product portfolios. Many companies decide which services, products, and technologies to include in their product portfolios using evaluation criteria related to, for example, cost, quality, risk, revenue, time, and market position. However, often, sustainability aspects are not integrated into such criteria. Incorporating sustainability aspects in the portfolio evaluation criteria could ensure the development of sustainability-promoting solutions. This should be done in the early stages of the product development process, where there is more room for innovation than later in the process. 

The aim of this research is to provide a better understanding of how sustainability performance can be implemented in the product portfolio process of manufacturing companies and thereby support the companies’ sustainability transformation. The research has focused on: 1) how to define the concept of sustainability product portfolios based on the state of the art and the state of practice, 2) determining the current situation in industry related to implementation of sustainability performance in product portfolios, 3) identifying the most used criteria and tools for product portfolio evaluation, and 4) determining how product portfolios are planned, implemented and managed. 

Literature reviews, interviews and workshops were used to collect data from seven large manufacturing companies located in Sweden, one small company located in Colombia, and several research groups and master level student groups. The collected data from industrial cases was organized, processed, analyzed, and verified to provide academic and industry background, to guide the implementation of sustainability performance in the product portfolio

The results from the studies provided a basis for creating guidance in developing a sustainability product portfolio in a company. The guidance includes: i) a definition of the sustainability product portfolio concept; ii) a list of common product portfolio evaluation criteria to be used for a  selection of  portfolio components; iii) key factors to succeed with the integration of sustainability aspects in portfolio development and to implement sustainability performance in the product portfolio; iv) an initial conceptualization model to support the sustainability implementation process in product portfolios; and, v) a digitalized and game-based prototype of the strategic layered double-flow scenario modeling for sustainability risk and portfolio management (STARDUST) method, to guide companies in the implementation of sustainability in their product portfolio. 

With the outcome of this research, practitioners can be supported in their decision-making, especially in the planning stages, with a strategic sustainability perspective to identify sustainability hotspots. Moreover, evaluate portfolio components with a sustainability-informed market-success perspective, compare solutions, and identify benefits and risk that might modify the product portfolio over time.