Cyber-Physical Product-Service Systems – Challenges for Requirements Engineering

These days, manufacturers need to improve both their products and services, as well as their technological base to achieve a more sustainable value proposition, to become more efficient and effective in the market, and to satisfy user needs. Significant emerging technologies being discussed in various research studies include networked and smart-environments connected by Internet of Things (IoT), wearable technologies, tangible interfaces, human-robot collaboration, evolving tools, processes and interactions, virtual reality, the ubiquitous use of machine learning, and deep-learning algorithms. Such aspects are increasing the benefits of technology and opening the way toward technical breakthroughs, and have led to the emergence of cyber-physical systems (CPSs), which can be seen as systems of systems, requiring collaboration among different disciplines such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science for their realization. To enable the full potential of a CPS and generate a substantial competitive advantage, however, the service perspective cannot be neglected. Servitization of product offerings has recently accumulated in so-called product-service systems (PSSs), which describe the integrated development, realization, and provisioning of product-service bundles as a solution for customers. Thus, it is more and more important to consider both the technological and service aspects early in the development process. An integration of the two concepts will lead to product-service bundles provided on a cyber-physical basis, creating cyber-physical product-service systems (CPSSs). To base these complex systems on stakeholder needs and allow a successful and dynamic change to CPSSs in industry, multi-disciplinary requirements engineering (RE) for the hardware, software, and service components is a key aspect. The objective of this paper is to provide an introduction to the CPSS concept, understand its application in an industrial case, and elaborate on the specific challenges for systems engineering, focusing on the RE process.