Title: Continuous improvement planning through sustainability assessment of product-service systems

Authors: Elisa Negri; Maria Holgado; Dirk Wagner; Christian Grefrath; Marco Macchi; Gerhard Gudergan

Addresses: Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milano, Italy ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milano, Italy ' Service Management, FIR at RWTH University, Campus-Boulevard 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany ' Service Management, FIR at RWTH University, Campus-Boulevard 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milano, Italy ' Business Transformation, FIR at RWTH University, Campus-Boulevard 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany

Abstract: The paper presents a methodology for the integrated sustainability assessment of a product-service system lifecycle, with the purpose to support continuous improvement on the side both of the manufacturer and of the user. Its eight steps are an extension of ISO 14040 life cycle assessment and consider all three sustainability dimensions - economic, environmental and social - and a service perspective, using the service unit. A set of indicators for the three dimensions, aligned to the service unit concept, is proposed based on literature suggestions.

Keywords: product service systems; PSS life cycle; sustainability assessment; service units; sustainability dimensions; environmental assessment; ISO 14040; economic assessment; social assessment; impact categories; sustainability indicators; total quality management; TQM; continuous improvement; improvement planning; sustainable development; life cycle assessment; LCA.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2016.076706

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2016 Vol.18 No.2/3, pp.168 - 190

Published online: 23 May 2016 *

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