The Digital Servitization of Manufacturing Companies: the ASAP International Observatory

The “Digital Servitization” journey is challenging, and companies often struggle to realise their expectations. Therefore, to shed light on the current state of Digital Servitization strategies in the manufacturing sector, the ASAP Service Management Forum and IFIP WG5.7 Special Interest group on Service Systems Design, Engineering and Management have instituted the “Digital Servitization Observatory” research. Specifically, the research is focused on understanding the actual service offering of manufacturing companies and the digital technologies of Industry 4.0, mainly involved in providing these services. Moreover, the research aims at capturing the challenges and best practices that businesses are dealing with in their Digital Servitization transformation process in five areas: strategy, design, knowledge management, assessment for decisions, and sustainability. The analysis carried out on more than 300 responses worldwide showed that nowadays, servitization is embraced by companies expanding their business portfolios with service offerings. They mainly offer services (such as spare parts delivery, maintenance, upgrading, training, and consulting) on a transactional basis but also develop service contracts. However, the main source of revenue is still the sale of new products. Large and medium enterprises show a highly diversified service offerings portfolio with respect to small companies that, on the contrary, manage to obtain higher revenues from the sale of services. Among the digital technologies of the Industry 4.0, Internet of Things, Cyber Security, and Cloud Computing are the most adopted in enabling digital services. Large enterprises already have them in their service offering and are moving to more complex technologies, such as Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Simulation, and Mixed Reality. Lastly, the research demonstrated a rising trend toward the use of technology for service delivery since multiple benefits are perceived from digital services, such as the increase in revenues, customer loyalty, differentiation from competitors, and sustainability. However, a focused strategy, coordination at the ecosystem level, data management efforts, and supporting tools for conscious decisions in the delivery of services are required to comply with the Digital Servitization process.