Development of a knowledge-based design support system for Product-Service Systems

Compared to product design, a broader range of knowledge is required to Product-Service System (PSS) design, since both products and services are included in its design space. In this paper, a method for knowledge-based PSS design support is proposed. The proposed method is on the basis of the research on Japanese Service Engineering, which provides design methodology of the integrated provision of products and services. In addition, a prototype of computer-aided design (CAD) system to realize knowledge-based PSS design support is developed. The method and system support the acquisition of new PSS design solutions by integrating knowledge accumulated in a knowledge base. The developed system was applied to a design of an actual service: an accommodation service in Japan. The application result showed that the developed system was useful to support a design of the integrated provision of products and services. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.