Combining products and services into solutions — Evidence from the capital goods industry

This paper describes the concept of the solution provider, i.e. the provider of customised product/service bundles. A model - consisting of six principles and success factors for solution management - is designed and explored through a survey. The answers from 99 German medium-sized companies are used to draw conclusions on the relevance and the need for action to manage the transition from being a product-centric company towards being a solution provider. The responses show that 1) the solution concept offers the opportunity to gain competitive advantage, 2) the potential of providing solutions has been recognised, yet the implementation is lagging behind, 3) a consistent solution management process is a prerequisite for success, 4) appropriate methods and tools are required along the whole solution management process.