Research method of the publications

The DSR process or procedure is divided into seven steps (Hevner, et al., 2004) (Dresch, et al., 2015) that were applied across the different publications and used to propose the concepts in Chapter 5 shown in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3 The seven step DSR process adapted from (Hevner, 2007) (Dresch, et al., 2015) to support the research goals of the publication and dissertation.

3.2 Research method of the publications

Publications I to VI applied DSR methods and processes (Hevner, et al., 2004), (Hevner, 2007), (Dresch, et al., 2015) and qualitative research (Patton, 2015) to collect and interpret (code) (Saldana, 2016) the semi-structured interview data. Publication VII is based on literature review and empirical analysis of the interviews carried out with the case companies. Publication VII applies qualitive cases studies. For Publications I - VI, the approach is divided into three main phases that started from (1) the understanding of published research and theories, (2) the as-is status of the case companies and then moving towards the (3) future state that is driven and influenced by the company or product line strategy applying DSR for the actual research activities. Each publication describes the research process and methology in more detail. For Publication VII, the research consists of a literature study and empirical analysis concerning the Smart Service development process from a user experience point-of-view. The empirical part of the research employed a qualitative case study in a work machine manufacturing company where semi-structured interviews were carried out (Hirsjärvi & Hurme, 2004).

The publications were created during different research projects that were part of the SIM research platform at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT). Part of the case companies participated in multiple research projects run in the SIM research platform. The goal of the SIM Platform is to research real-time physical system simulation: (1) simulator, virtual reality and HMI technologies (2) Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Digital Twins (DT) via Internet of Things (IoT), and (3) sustainable customer value through IoT and digitalization. The goal of the SIM platform is to understand how IoT based digital environments create new possibilities increasing customer value and offering new business opportunities and models for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The qualitative research process, in this thesis, for the case companies, was broken down into the following areas: (1) interview preparation based on the goals of the case company in the research project and background information

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collection from the public domain, (2) semi-structured interviews with the cases company personnel, (3) review and conclusions from the interviews, (4) summary of findings and recommendation, (5) case company review meetings or comments to the provided documentation, (6) additional workshops to clarify open areas and questions, (7) review companies actions and outcomes from their development projects.

Before the interviews took place, the goals and objectives of the case companies were defined and then a common interview structure was created to be used in the interview sessions. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the research data from the case companies in the B2B manufacturing and software solution sectors. The interviews were carried out in the different case companies at the start of the research projects and supplementary interviews were used to clarify the open or unclear areas as the research and the case company projects proceeded. The interview lasted typically 2h to 3h and also included a visit to the production area to better understand the product and services that were being offered to customers with some of the manufacturers. In addition, the onsite development of the digital solutions and business processes were reviewed. The target interview groups varied in the different research projects, but the manufacturing company target group was product development, product and service management, and Information Management and business development personnel. For the software solution companies, the interviewed people were service and business development personnel and C-level persons where possible. The collected data was coded and categorised to identify common themes and form first concepts to review with the case companies. To further improve the details of the identified concepts, workshops were used to present the concept and collect case company specific information to understand the different areas that needed to be improved for the generalised concepts and the case company needs. The workshops were used to review findings and proposals with the case companies that were relevant to the business goals and seminars were used to present both research results and case company progress and results in their individual projects. Seminars were organised at project milestones to track progress, collect insight from the case companies and also understand in more detail the questions relevant to the case companies. The seminars increased cross research-team understanding and encouraged exchange of findings and ideas between the different case companies. As the research projects proceeded, each case company reported on their progress of their projects and the research team participated to improve the deliverables and clarify the goals of the projects.

The data was collected between 2016 - 2020 from the research projects managed under the SIM research platform.The case companies that participated in the projects are B2B manufacturing and software companies that offer complex solutions and services to global customers (Table 3.1). The case companies provide product and service solutions over the end-to-end customers lifecycle and their business is sustainability driven where legislation is placing higher requirements for resource efficiency, for example, energy and water consumption, and reduced environmental impact providing improved productions yields. The case companies’ solution offering varies in configurability (ETO, CTO, BTO) and varying in content over the lifecycle mixing combination of services,

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SCPS and digitally extended services. All of the case companies are developing their extended and digital Product-Service System (PSS) capabilities. One of the key goals was to identify possible business benefits and business opportunities that Smart-Connected Product-Service Systems or its elements can provide. Another challenge that the case companies are facing is understanding the business benefits that, for example, Digital Twins, can create to their business, and plan how these benefits can be implemented into operations and the transition required to move from the current state to the vision or goal.

To deliver value, the case companies are dependent on their business environment and actors to create knowledge and expertise that they do not have internally to form business networks and eco-systems that provide lifecycle solutions meeting customer needs.

Table 3.1: Case Companies part of this thesis

Case Company Business Area Product & Service Types

ROSE Mobile work equipment, service &solutions CTO, BTO SAIL Mobile work equipment, service &solutions CTO, ETO, BTO MESS Engineering, equipment, service and solutions

for manufacturing & processing segments CTO, ETO, BTO VALUE Mobile work equipment, service &solutions CTO, BTO QUEEN Technology, equipment, service and solutions

for manufacturing & processing segments CTO, ETO, BTO VISUAL B2B Equipment, services & solutions CTO, BTO METEOR Engineering, equipment, service and solutions

for manufacturing & processing segments

CTO, ETO, BTO VLADIN Engineering, technology equipment, service

and solutions for manufacturing & processing segments

CTO, ETO, BTO

DATA 1 Software solutions and services for B2B CTO, ETO DATA 2 Software solutions and services for B2B & B2C CTO DATA 3 Software solutions and services for B2B CTO, BTO

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