A Fuzzy logic assessment Framework for collaborative development of Product-Service Systems

The development and value chain management of product-service systems (PSS) requires companies to look for new capabilities, regarding the disparate components of a PSS. However, interfirm collaboration in this context presents several particularities which may be challenging for the stakeholders and can lead to project failure. In this regard, there is still limited literature addressing frameworks and tools to manage the collaborative aspects of PSS from an organisational point of view. This paper presents a methodology to develop a framework to support companies in choosing suitable partners in a PSS development project and to improve collaboration. Thus, an assessment model is built using key performance indicators (KPIs) based on important collaboration performance factors, with the help of a fuzzy logic tool. This model is then tested and validated in two different PSS case studies.