Service delivery in small and medium-sized manufacturing firms
Härkälä, Jaakko (2023)
Härkälä, Jaakko
2023
Tuotantotalouden DI-ohjelma - Master's Programme in Industrial Engineering and Management
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-06-19
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202306146759
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202306146759
Tiivistelmä
Adding services to the offering has been a growing trend in the manufacturing industry. With the help of services, a firm can stand out from competitors, deepen customer relationships, and increase turnover. Providing services to small and medium-sized companies is not necessarily easy due to limited resources. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the way small and medium-sized manufacturing companies offer and deliver services to their customers. The research is motivated by the growing digitization of services, technologies, processes and the ability of small and medium-sized companies to deliver services despite low resources and capabilities. The current literature on small and medium-sized manufacturing companies’ service delivery is limited and this thesis tries to explore the area more. The delivery of services is conceptually divided into four main themes: position in the value chain, type of service offering, service interface, and partnerships and outsourcing.
The delivery of the service is investigated with the help of previous literature and interviews conducted with case companies. In the empirical part of the master’s thesis, qualitative information was collected through semi-structured interviews. 14 expert interviews were organized into six case companies. All companies are located in the Pirkanmaa area; they are in the manufacturing industry, and they also offer services to their customers.
Small and medium-sized companies that provide services are largely focused on the after-market, i.e., after sales. This is shown by both previous research and the results of this research. However, the research shows the surprisingly large importance of the services that take place before the sale. The willingness of small and medium-sized companies to invest in services was variable, but on average at a high level. The importance of digitalization was seen as very high in almost all companies, and several had started to develop or had developed digital services. The delivery of services was organized by several companies through partnerships. Partnerships played a key role when services or parts of services were developed to include digital parts. In these cases, the development of the service was done in cooperation with information technology companies. Services are delivered both individually and together. The most common need for partnerships was support for global field services from local operators.
Small and medium-sized companies have increased their interest as new technologies become more common and want to expand their services through digitalization. Services are targeted in the customer's value chain to the points, where you can stand out from your competitors and show your own expertise around the product. The profitability of the services cannot be determined based on the research, but their importance as a support for product sales is seen very important. Small and medium-sized manufacturing firms are in great position to innovate new services with the help of digital technologies. Managers should invest creating partnerships with information technology -based firms and develop digital services that aid customers in their activities.
The delivery of the service is investigated with the help of previous literature and interviews conducted with case companies. In the empirical part of the master’s thesis, qualitative information was collected through semi-structured interviews. 14 expert interviews were organized into six case companies. All companies are located in the Pirkanmaa area; they are in the manufacturing industry, and they also offer services to their customers.
Small and medium-sized companies that provide services are largely focused on the after-market, i.e., after sales. This is shown by both previous research and the results of this research. However, the research shows the surprisingly large importance of the services that take place before the sale. The willingness of small and medium-sized companies to invest in services was variable, but on average at a high level. The importance of digitalization was seen as very high in almost all companies, and several had started to develop or had developed digital services. The delivery of services was organized by several companies through partnerships. Partnerships played a key role when services or parts of services were developed to include digital parts. In these cases, the development of the service was done in cooperation with information technology companies. Services are delivered both individually and together. The most common need for partnerships was support for global field services from local operators.
Small and medium-sized companies have increased their interest as new technologies become more common and want to expand their services through digitalization. Services are targeted in the customer's value chain to the points, where you can stand out from your competitors and show your own expertise around the product. The profitability of the services cannot be determined based on the research, but their importance as a support for product sales is seen very important. Small and medium-sized manufacturing firms are in great position to innovate new services with the help of digital technologies. Managers should invest creating partnerships with information technology -based firms and develop digital services that aid customers in their activities.