The Sustainable Value Proposition of PSSs: The Case of ECOBEL “Shower Head”

Product/Service Systems are conceived to be competitive, satisfy customer needs and have a lower environmental impact than traditional business models. Based on a single case study, this paper analyses the specific sustainable value proposition that a company has designed to replace a low-cost product by an innovative Product Service Solution. The objective of the company is to replace the “shower head” in every hospital room. The concept that was developed does not consist in replacing product “A” by an equivalent product “B”, but in changing radically the offer. The Product Service Solution includes a lifecycle analyses, by integrating environmental social and economic impacts into the different main phases, i.e. beginning of life (BOL), Middle-of-life (MOL) and End-of-life (EOL). Even though the product that was designed to support the service looks very simple, the design of this innovative solution highlights the role of the functional analyses to be more environmental friendly, to improve social issues and finally proposes a new business model based on servicisation. The “shower head” as a service developed by ECOBEL is far beyond the low-cost product used today in the French hospital, by integrating a new sustainable value proposition.