Product-service systems: a literature review on assisting development

Abstract

The circular economy is gaining more space amongst academia and industry as a path toward sustainable development. The Product Service System (PSS) is pointed as a business model with a high potential of achieving circular economy, specially through efficient consumption and production. Even though literature on PSS is somewhat extensive and has been growing over the years, PSS is still troublesome to adopt, due to a lack of organization of the existing knowledge. This research seeks to gather and organize PSS development approaches (tools, methods and processes) presented in the literature, according to the PSS lifecycle. A bibliographical analysis was conducted, gathering researches in which PSS development approaches were mentioned. The approaches were later categorized, and their applications were analyzed. MePSS, PSS Board, Service Blueprint, and Business Canvas Model are some of the main approaches studied. Analysis showed research gaps concerning practical knowledge on the PSS field and approaches that comprehend the whole PSS lifecycle, completing the circularity of the product-service offer. Future research could aim at fulfilling those gaps, applying conceptual elements of Product-Service Systems and supporting the transaction toward a more circular economy.