Title
Hybrid Simulation Modelling As A Supporting Tool For Sustainable Product Service Systems: A Critical Analysis
Abstract
Manufacturing companies are increasingly shifting their value proposition from a product-centric perspective to Product-Service-System (PSS). This evolution allows companies to improve the customisation of their offer and to contribute to reduce material flows and consumption, thus enhancing sustainability. However, when companies introduce PSS offers, they have to face higher complexity and dynamism, as customer behaviours, process requirements and sustainability assessment must be considered during the design and the development of the new solutions. In this paper, after the identification of the main PSS dynamic features, the authors argue that business process simulation (BPS) could represent an effective tool to cope with the dynamics and the complexity entailed in a sustainable PSS. This paper analyses and compares existing BPS approaches identifying the hybrid simulation (HS) modelling as a promising approach. In fact, according to the critical PSS features, HS allows grasping PSS features and integrating customer, company and environmental sustainability perspectives into the model, thus, supporting effective PSS design and assessment. These findings have been validated in a test case where a hybrid model (integrating Discrete Event Simulation with Agent-Based Modelling) has been compared against a pure DES model. The results highlight the advantages of the hybrid modelling approach with respect to DES in supporting the engineering of a sustainable, customer-oriented PSS provision process.
Year
DOI
Venue
2017
10.1080/00207543.2017.1330569
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION RESEARCH
Keywords
DocType
Volume
PSS design, PSS assessment, sustainability, simulation, hybrid modelling
Journal
55
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
23
0020-7543
5
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.53
11
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Alice Rondini181.59
Fabiana Tornese260.88
Maria Grazia Gnoni3164.61
Giuditta Pezzotta4498.85
Roberto Pinto5177.57