What Is Smart Product-Service Systems (Smart PSS): A Brief Introduction

In recent years, the rapid advancement of digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics (BDA), artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing, has profoundly reshaped the way products and services are designed, delivered, and consumed. Traditional product-oriented offerings are increasingly complemented, or even replaced, by advanced solutions that integrate physical goods with digital services. This transformation is primarily driven by the necessity to respond to customers’ ever-changing and highly individualized needs, while also enabling firms to create new value propositions and maintain competitive advantages in dynamic markets. Against this backdrop, the concept of Smart Product–Service Systems (Smart PSS) has been proposed to capture this emerging paradigm of business innovation. Smart PSS combines smart, connected products, digital platforms, and service components into a unified solution, providing not only enhanced functionality but also continuous adaptability through data-driven feedback and user interaction. It goes beyond conventional Product–Service Systems (PSS) by embedding “smartness” into the offering, thereby enabling personalization, sustainability, and efficiency at an unprecedented level. In this chapter, we aim to illustrate the blueprint of Smart PSS by systematically outlining its capabilities and the requirements for maintaining sustainability throughout the whole supply chain. Theoretical and practical importance are stated to post the significance of our research. Moreover, the technical roadmap and research contents of this book are included to close this chapter.