The Service Orientation Process at an Operative Level : - A way to start charging for services in the manufacturing industry

Sammanfattning: The Western world manufacturing industry is facing a tough global market today. The production is moved to developing countries, where the production costs are much lower. Big manufacturing companies like VOLVO, SKF and ABB are all following this trend. The tradition in the manufacturing industry is to produce and sell a product, where the best scenario is to never see it again. This tradition is starting to change and the focus of revenue from the whole product life cycle has increased during the last decades. When utilities the whole life cycle with different services the revenue increases drastically, there is a competitive advantage, a more stabile revenue flow in economic cycles, socio-economical and environmental sustainability. When increasing service orientation, there will be challenges to overcome, discovered on a conceptual level, thereby the research call for how these challenges can be seen at an operative level. The purpose of this thesis is to identify these critical factors and understand these at an operative level. This master thesis was conducted through a case study and used several data collection methods, such as interviews, observations and literature review. The empirical data was thematically analysed and categorized as different critical factors and compeered with the literature. The case company chosen for the thesis is the Rolls-Royce site in Kristinehamn, Sweden. They are in a process of restructuring, where the production is downsized. A “catch 22” problem was seen; when a manufacturer becomes more service orientated the aim is to generate a profit from services, meaning that a service needs a fee. But the possibility to put a fee on a service is hindered by the lack of service orientation within the manufacturing organisation. In this thesis increased service orientation is used to create a foundation for charged services. Critical factors on an operative level was identified and understood. Two new critical factors that were found to have an impact in this specific case were concluded. A general model of how to approach the problem of putting a fee on services, starting in the end of service orientation, is conducted. This gives an implication of how manufacturers can improve their service orientation and eventually set a fee on their free services.