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Servitized manufacturing firms competing through remote monitoring technology: An exploratory study

Tonci Grubic (Business School, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK AND Cranfield School of Management - Complex Systems Research Centre, Cranfield, UK)
Joe Peppard (European School of Management and Technology, Berlin, Germany)

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management

ISSN: 1741-038X

Article publication date: 7 March 2016

1614

Abstract

Purpose

Remote monitoring technology (RMT) is widely acknowledged as an important enabler of servitisation however, there is a dearth of understanding about how RMT is used by manufacturing firms to support servitised strategies. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this important yet somewhat ignored topic in servitisation research. It attempts to address the following questions: what has constrained, and what has enabled the exploitation of RMT in the context of servitised strategies?

Design/methodology/approach

The research adopts an exploratory multiple-case study design. Four in-depth descriptive case studies of companies operating in aerospace, industrial equipment, marine, and transport sectors were conducted. The collected data were analysed and synthesised, drawing out conclusions.

Findings

The study describes how four manufacturers are using RMT and identifies ten factors that have enabled and constrained the realisation of expected outcomes. The enabling factors identified include: skills, experience, and knowledge; support from customers and other complementary data sources, processes, and structures; operations centres; historical data; and presence of in-house knowledge and capabilities. While the constraining factors include: defining benefits of RMT; limitations of RMT; limited understanding about true capabilities of RMT; knowledge management; and lack of alignment between services and manufacturing strategies.

Research limitations/implications

While considerable attention and effort have been invested in designing and conducting the research and analysing the data from the case studies, more empirical work is required to validate and enrich findings and conclusions. For this purpose several research questions to guide further theory development in this area are formulated.

Originality/value

This paper is an in-depth study examining the role of RMT in supporting servitised strategies. In particular, it explores how this technology is used in practice to support service-oriented value propositions of manufacturers and identifies the factors that are key to successfully executing this strategy. As such it qualifies as one of the first studies of this kind.

Keywords

Citation

Grubic, T. and Peppard, J. (2016), "Servitized manufacturing firms competing through remote monitoring technology: An exploratory study", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 154-184. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-05-2014-0061

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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