Design and Development of Sustainable Product Service Systems Based on Design-Centric Complexity

• Main Authors: Peng Zhang, Shaohua Jing, Zifeng Nie, Boyuan Zhao, Runhua Tan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: product-service system; sustainability; design-centric complexity; TRIZ
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/532

Product-service system (PSS) complexity is rapidly increasing in order to meet complex user requirements. Increased complexity leads to PSSs failing to meet sustainability requirements in their initial design. To enhance PSS sustainability and support social benefits, this paper proposes a sustainable PSS development framework based on design-centric complexity (DCC) theory. In the early design stage of a PSS, DCC theory is used to analyze the complexity of the system. Determination of the types of complexity in the system and the corresponding problems is then performed. By combining the sub-field model of TRIZ, the problems can be converted and solved, and the functional periodicity may be established to reduce system complexity. By using this development framework, the conflicts and potential problems of design attributes can be reduced and the possibility of achieving PSSs functional requirements (FRs) can be enhanced. This will maintain the long-term operation stability for the system and enhance the sustainability of the PSS. Finally, the feasibility of the development framework is verified here through the case analysis of a bicycle sharing service and management system.