The launch of innovative product-related services: Lessons from automotive telematics

In the literature on new product development, most existing studies on the end of the design process concentrate on managing ramp-up in the field of manufactured products. This situation poses a problem at a time when our economies increasingly depend upon services and products are more and more related with sophisticated services that provide value for customers and producers. This article examines the management of the final phases of the design process of an innovative product-related service. Our research thus makes three contributions: (1) an analysis of the implementation process shows that the simultaneity of the production and consumption of a service means that three types of learning – technical, sales and uses – take place at the same time. Launch management strategies have thus to be adapted; (2) an analysis of the data collected confirms this difference by bringing to light great contrasts in these different aspects of learning; (3) this led us to identify a field that needs exploration by researchers in product and service innovation: the design of the sales process. Furthermore we underline two scenarios to manage the launch of innovative product-related services.