Improving Functional Product Availability: Software-related Measures Planned and Taken

The paper, based on an empirical study involving five companies, concerns software-related measures that are planned and taken by providers together with their customers to improve the availability of Functional Products (FP) or similar offers. The manufacturing industry is showing an increasing interest in adding offerings based on additionally complex business models, as opposed to merely offering products and services. This supports innovation and helps companies to stay competitive and profitable. Considerable focus is placed on performance- or result-based business models. Functional Products (FP) is one such business model, where the provider offers a function to customers at an agreed-upon level of availability, productivity or efficiency. FP comprise four main constituents: hardware, software, service-support system and management of operation, which together deliver value to customers on a long-term basis. The paper highlights nine software-related availability measures planned and taken by manufacturing companies and proposes additional potential software-related availability measures.