Koji Kimita

The circular economy (CE) seeks to replace traditional linear models by focusing on resource reuse and circulation. However, developing effective CE business strategies is difficult due to complex user behaviors and product flows. Existing scenario analysis tools often rely on survey-based conjoint methods, raising concerns about discrepancies with real purchasing patterns. This study introduces a data-driven simulation approach that employs a consumer preference model and product circulation processes based on actual operational data. Applied to a second-hand PC rental business, our method more accurately reproduces market behavior and reveals that targeting certain customer segments can enhance profitability and resource utilization. These findings underscore the approach’s value as a practical tool for pre-evaluating strategies in CE businesses.

Purpose: This study aims to develop a systematic method called servitization maturity model to support companies in developing distinctive capabilities for successful servitization.Design/methodology/approach: The concept of maturity models is adopted to support companies in developing distinctive capabilities for servitization. A systematic literature review and case study approach are employed to develop the maturity model.Findings: The findings highlight 46 capabilities classified into seven categories: strategy and leadership, performance, offerings, customers, organization, network and digital technology. Furthermore, the evolutionary path is defined by combining two types of levels, i.e. capability and maturity levels, to develop these capabilities.Research limitations/implications: The evolutionary path was partially validated through the application, while further investigation is required to validate the evolutionary path. Therefore, future research should investigate the further validation of the evolutionary path by conducting multiple case studies.Practical implications: The proposed maturity model enables companies to not only capture the bigger picture of the required capabilities without oversight, but also determine a process for improving the requisite capabilities with feasible efforts.Originality/value: Existing maturity models focused on the transition from less to more advanced services. However, recent studies emphasized that companies need to determine strategies that reflect their capabilities rather than simply move toward more advanced services. Based on this assumption, this study provides successive stages that enable companies to improve their capabilities through feasible efforts.

Compared to new manufacturing, the distinctive nature of remanufacturing is found to have high variability, high uncertainty and, thereby, complexity. Therefore, remanufacturers need to enhance their ability to adjust their systems flexibly. Especially, the ability to reconfigure the production planning and control is crucial for reacting to the high variability and uncertainty.

Remanufacturing is a crucial component for our societies to move toward a circular economy. Compared with new manufacturing, the distinctive nature of remanufacturing is found to have high variability, high uncertainty and, thereby, complexity. Therefore, remanufacturers need to be able to adapt to the complexity and to flexibly adjust their processes. Especially, the ability to remanufacturing process planning and control is important. However, few practical methods supporting that are available so far. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a method for designing teams and processes in remanufacturing based on the concept of loosely coupled systems. In the proposed method, design structure matrix (DSM) is applied to identify loosely coupled sub-systems that enable to localize impacts of changes within themselves. These sub-systems are also regarded as cross-functional teams that reduce coordination efforts among line departments and, therefore, increase the adaptability against uncertainties. As a preliminary validation, the proposed method was applied to a real case of remanufacturing, and then found to be effective for creating teams and processes for remanufacturing process planning and control depending on given uncertainties.

Recently, a circular economy has attracted global attention as an approach for addressing material security and resource‐efficiency issues. As our societies shift toward a circular economy, manufacturers need to not only produce environmentally conscious products but to also realize reliable systems that will ensure the closure of the loops of the products, components, and materials. To do so, early‐stage design is crucial to effectively and efficiently detect possible failures and then take adequate countermeasures against them. Although a few methods of failure analysis have been proposed to address environmental issues, these methods have failed to consider the cause–effect relationships among failures. This will hinder manufacturers from identifying core problems that should be addressed in a given system. Therefore, this study extends failure mode and effect analysis, which is an engineering technique used to address potential failures, by addressing the entire system reliability in relation to circularity. As a result of a case study of a manufacturer aiming to increase circularity with their products on the market, we revealed that the proposed method is useful in the early stage of design to (a) identify failure modes where effects are largely given to or received from other failures, (b) develop countermeasures effectively by addressing root causes of failures, and (c) find an opportunity to collaborate with external actors.

Title: Ontological Descriptions for Integrating Design Information of Product-Service Systems | Keywords: product-service systems, design, interoperability, ontology | Author: Koji Kimita, Keiichi Muramatsu, and Yutaro Nemoto

In this article, the authors extend the current literature on servitization by taking a configurational perspective, aiming to understand the interplay between the drivers (conditions) that lead to certain equifinal outcomes of servitization. By taking stock of the servitization literature using the contingency theory of strategy as a foundational theory and the strategy–structure–environment approach as a primary framework to systematically review and analyze the identified configurational servitization studies, the authors identify commonalities and gaps in the literature and set directions for future research.