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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/K014072/1
Title: Transforming the adoption of Product-Service Systems through innovations in applied gaming technology
Principal Investigator: Baines, Professor T
Other Investigators:
Brewster, Professor C Uren, Dr V Schroeder, Dr A
Owen, Dr C D
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre Birmingham Science Park Dept of Business, Innovation and Skills
Finning (UK) Ltd Footprint Sheffield Limited Ford Motor Co
HCL Technologies Ltd MAHER Limited MAN Truck & Bus UK Ltd
PERA Playgen Second Places Limited
SEMTA Serious Games International Technicut
TEKS Total Eclipse UK Council for Electronic Business
Virtualware Labs Xerox
Department: Aston Business School
Organisation: Aston University
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 February 2013 Ends: 31 January 2018 Value (£): 727,672
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Human-Computer Interactions Manufact. Business Strategy
Multimedia
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Manufacturing
Related Grants:
EP/K014080/1 EP/K014064/1
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
07 Nov 2012 Future ICT-enabled Manufacuring (Fulls) Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
Servitization is the process of transforming manufacturers to compete through Product-Service Systems (PSS) rather than products alone. The commercial and environmental benefits of PSSs are compelling and well documented (Rolls-Royce earning over 50% of their revenue from services is cited to exhaustion). The opportunities are immense (three quarters of wealth world-wide is now created through performing services) and so politically PSSs are seen as key to industrial success in the 21st Century.



Adoption of PSS is frustratingly slow in mainstream manufacturing. Superficially the concepts find appeal but fail to gain traction as the potential implications to a business are complex. In the meantime, China is catching up (Chinese manufacturing companies offering services have grown from 2 - 20% since 2006). In the UK, we need to get better at informing, educating and training, our senior manufacturing managers about PSS and servitization, giving them the means to visualize the potential impact upon their business.

Gamification offers a radical solution. Gamification bridges video-gaming technologies and computer simulations to offer three-dimensional virtual worlds, dynamic and content-rich, which can be used to entertain, educate and inform. This is especially innovative for user engagement, supporting behavior and attitudinal change, and the design of advanced human and computer interfaces for representing and handling complex data systems. This programme will therefore develop applied game technologies, design principles and protocols, to transform the adoption of PSSs within mainstream manufacturing companies and so accelerate the foothold of gamifiaction in strategic business analysis.

Key Findings
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Organisation Website: http://www.aston.ac.uk