Smart development of products and services at the same time

FAU team is involved in the SmartHaPSSSS research project.

Researchers at FAU are investigating how SMEs can develop a new product while planning the appropriate service at the same time. The research project ‘Harmonisation of the Development of Complex Smart Product-Service Systems for SMEs’ (SmartHaPSSS) is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with around 2 million euros.

The research team led by Prof. Dr. Angela Roth, Prof. Dr. Kathrin Möslein and Dr. Martin Schymanietz, at the Chair of Information Systems, Innovation and Value Creation, as well as Prof. Dr. Markus Beckmann and Dr. Peter Wehnert at the Chair of Corporate Sustainability Management, are collaborating with the Institute for Applied Informatics (InfAI), the University Computer Centre of Leipzig as well as the REHAU Group, a polymer specialist that manufactures solutions for the construction, automotive and industrial sectors, and Intershop Communications AG, a B2B omnichannel commerce provider that offers customer portals for manufacturers and wholesalers as a cloud solution.

Together, they want to develop innovative business models in which the development processes are closely interlinked, with particular regard to sustainability aspects for products and services. Until now, these processes have mostly been separated from each other – even though both areas are becoming increasingly linked by digitalization.

Which processes can be harmonised? Who needs to talk to whom when? When should a workshop take place? What can a computer simulation show? How do products and services become as sustainable and resource-efficient as possible? The research consortium deals with these and other practical issues and develops suitable concepts – for example, a smart shelf that can invoice and reorder goods independently.

This research and development project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the programme ‘Innovations for tomorrow’s production, services and work’ and coordinated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The author is responsible for the content of this text.

Further information

Dr. Martin Schymanietz
Phone: +49 911 530296398
martin.schymanietz@fau.de