Designing for Social Impact is an approach of social sustainability that presents an alternative way to improve living conditions in low income communities, of low income countries, by providing solutions that will enable them to meet their basic needs. Some current methods and tools used by social designers are focused on specific social aspects and often fail to engage communities to participate actively in the design processes. A non-linear Design Research Method was used to engage experts from the Design for Social Impact sector, Product Service System “PSS”, and social designers. A case study based in Gambia was used to study if “PSS” could encourage social designers to co-design with these communities as a way to promote positive solutions. Thus, strategic actions were collected from the research findings as a way to promote co-designing with involved stakeholders in low income communities. / ING/School of Engineering +46 455 38 50 00

Abstract  Purpose:  The purpose of the research was to define Product-Service-System (PSS) and Product-as-a- Service (PaaS), identify the challenges and match mitigations with them when closing the supply chain from a B2C retailer’s perspective. The following three research questions were defined:  RQ1: How are Product-Service-System and Product-as-a-Service defined and related to the environmental sustainability context?  RQ2: What are the challenges that B2C-retailers with a Product-as-a-Service model encounter in regard to closing their supply chain loop?  RQ3: How can the closed loop supply chain related challenges that B2C-retailers encounter be mitigated to unfold the environmentally sustainable potential of PaaS business models?  Methodology: A systematic literature review was used for defining PaaS and PSS with an environmentally sustainable focus. The second part of the research is based on a qualitative research method with the use of an interview study setup where 2 industry experts and 4 PaaS companies from the fashion, furniture, mobility and whitegoods industries were interviewed. The empirical data was collected using six semi-structured interviews over zoom.  Findings:  Both PSS and PaaS are focused on providing the product with a service. The biggest difference between PSS and PaaS is that the former is seen as a paradigm shift with regards to linear models whereas the latter is seen as a practical business model to transform a linear system. Based on the intended use, PSS and PaaS are both not inherently more sustainable than linear business models. The standardised definition was further used and integrated for the development of the framework which displays the challenges and mitigations of different levels for an environmentally sustainable PaaS model. The final framework displays 25 challenges. To those challenges, 24 mitigations could be connected. Furthermore, there were 16 challenges that had not been cross validated and a total of 19 challenges that could not be matched with any mitigation. Those unmatched challenges show the need for further research in this area.  Contributions/value:  The contribution that this thesis brings to existing literature is threefold. First, PSS and PaaS are defined and related to environmental sustainability, solving the fragmentation that was caused in prior research. Secondly, the challenges found widen the scope of existing knowledge about PSS and PaaS in a CLSC. Thirdly, mitigation horizons were elaborated on in this research, giving practical handlebars to managers for overcoming challenges in the B2C PaaS field and theoretical insights for matching challenges and mitigations. Additionally, this thesis points out possibilities for future research, with which we hope to motivate other researchers to shed light on under-researched areas.  Keywords:  Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) - Product-Service-System (PSS) - Servitization - B2C Retailer - Circular Economy - Circular Business Model - Environmental Sustainability - Challenges - Mitigations - Closed Loop Supply Chain

Today’s companies are struggling with the competitive environment driven by resource scarcity, technical progress and market demand for increased value and flexibility. For these reasons companies are shifting their focus from selling products to selling need fulfillment. The result-oriented product-service (PSS) is a PSS type that provides value mainly through delivery of services with the premise of the producer taking responsibility over the entire product life cycle. It is highlighted in the literature as a business strategy to generate a high profit and stable the revenue. Despite the new market opportunities related to the provision of PSS, it inherently comes with complexity linked to the extended responsibility. More importantly, very little is mentioned in the PSS literature regarding real case PSS development and how service-oriented PSS contracting impacts Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The objective of this thesis is to examine how result-oriented PSS can create new opportunities for SMEs. It is targeting to explore this topic from a cost and value creation perspective for both the company and customer. To achieve the objective a main research question is stated which answer is given by answering the two sub questions as below. How can a result-oriented product-service system be implemented in small and medium-sized enterprises? 1. What result-oriented PSS solution can be designed for the recycling equipment industry to increase the value for both the manufacturer and the customer? 2. What are the financial implications of a result-oriented PSS? To explore answers for the research questions, a case study inquiry is carried out on MRT (Mercury Recovery Technology) System International AB. It is a small international recycling equipment manufacturer in Karlskrona. A PSS development process resulting in a new concept referred to as “Pay per screen” is developed. The development and analysis of the result-oriented PSS shows that it is more profitable for the company to offer the proposed Pay per screen concept compared to the current product- oriented business. Even the customer has proven to be profitable while providing several advantages such as avoid being responsible for initial investment and maintenance costs. / Dagens företag kämpar med att hantera den konkurrenskraftiga miljön som drivs av resursbrist, teknisk utveckling och efterfrågan av ökat värde och flexibilitet. Av dessa skäl byter företagen fokus från att sälja produkter till att uppfylla behov. Det resultatorienterade produkttjänstesystemet (PSS) är en sorts PSS som ger värde huvudsakligen genom att leverera tjänster med förutsättningen att producenten tar ansvar över hela produktens livscykel. Den framträder i litteraturen som en ny strategisk affärsstrategi som genererar en hög vinst och stabiliserar inkomstflödet. Trots de nya marknadsmöjligheterna i samband med tillhandahållandet av PSS följer komplexitet med det utökade ansvaret. Dessutom nämns mycket lite i PSS-litteraturen om PSS-utveckling i ett verklighetsbaserat fall och hur tjänsteorienterad PSS-koncept påverkar små och medelstora företag. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka hur resultatorienterade produkttjänstesystem kan skapa nya möjligheter för små och medelstora företag. Det riktar sig till att utforska detta ämne ur ett kostnads- och värdeskapande perspektiv för både företaget och kunden. För att uppnå målet anges en huvudforskningsfråga vilket delvis svaras genom att svara på de två delfrågorna nedan. Hur kan ett resultatorienterat produktservice system genomföras i små och medelstora företag? 1. Vilken resultatorienterad PSS-lösning kan utformas för återvinningsindustrin för att öka värdet för både tillverkaren och kunden? 2. Vilka är de ekonomiska konsekvenserna av ett resultatorienterat PSS? För att utforska svaren på forskningsfrågorna utförs en fallstudie på MRT (Mercury Recovery Technology) System International AB. Det är en liten internationell tillverkare av återvinningsutrustning i Karlskrona. En PSS-utvecklingsprocess som resulterar i ett nytt koncept som kallas "Pay per screen" är utvecklat. Utvecklingen och analysen av resultatorienterad PSS visar att det är mer lönsamt för företaget att erbjuda det föreslagna Pay per screen konceptet. För även kunden har det visat sig vara lönsamt samtidigt som ger en rad fördelar så som att slippa ansvara för investerings- och underhållskostnader.

The global population is growing, and more people than before are moving to cities. This creates a need for increased building efficiency and possibility to work in remote environments. On today’s construction sites, there is a need to able to organize the site in a better way. In the future, autonomous vehicles will instead find it difficult to localize materials on a construction site. The autonomous vehicles can localize themselves with cameras and sensors, but they do not know how to localize the materials and items. This report is based on a project where Volvo Construction Equipment acted as a customer and the project was performed by students from Blekinge Institute of Technology and Stanford University. The prompt for this project was “From elephants to ants – from Earth to Mars” and would later be interpreted as finding a solution for the future that will be able to function without human’s intervention. From this project, this report was created. The following research questions for this report were: • How can workers locate building materials on today’s construction sites? • How will autonomous vehicles be able to locate material without human assistance in future construction sites? To solve these problems a design-process started, using an engineering design method. This method was chosen because of the type of problem. In engineering, the problem is identified to create a solution to the problem, comparing to when studying science, a question should be answered. The outcome from this report is a Product Service System (PSS) for a tracking system and a device for materials on today’s and future construction sites. When this solution was created no economic aspects were considered. Also, the focus of this report is the first steps of going from today’s construction sites to the future construction sites where autonomous vehicles will be used. The result from this research shows that the same problem of organizing a construction site is a pattern that can be seen in the majority of the sites that were visited during field works. Also, the workers today have little trust in the autonomous vehicles which is a result of lacking information and communication within companies. Furthermore, to be able to move to an autonomous future the mindset and attitude has to be changed. The collected data was analysed, and the outcome was a tracing system that will enable, both humans and machines, to localize materials on today’s and future construction sites. With this solution, today’s workers can track their materials wherever it is placed, without any need of changing the site. The autonomous vehicles will be able to use the tags to localize materials when there are no humans around. / Den globala befolkningen växer och fler flyttar till städerna än tidigare. Detta skapar ett behov av ökad effektivitet i byggbranschen och möjlighet till arbete i avlägsna miljöer. På dagens byggarbetsplatser är det nödvändigt att kunna organisera platsen på ett bättre sätt. I framtiden kommer de autonoma fordonen få det svårare att lokalisera material på en byggarbetsplats. De autonoma fordonen kan lokalisera sig med kameror och sensorer, men de vet inte hur man lokaliserar material och föremål. Rapporten bygger på ett projekt där kunden var Volvo Construction Equipment och projektet utfördes av studenter från Blekinge Tekniska Högskola och Stanford University. Prompten för projektet löd "Från elefanter till myror - från jorden till mars" och som senare tolkades till att finna en lösning för framtiden som kommer att kunna fungera utan mänsklig påverkan. Från detta projekt skapades denna rapport. Följande forskningsfrågor skulle besvaras: • Hur kan arbetare lokalisera byggmaterial på dagens byggarbetsplatser? • Hur kommer autonoma fordon kunna lokalisera material utan mänsklig hjälp på de framtida byggarbetsplatserna? För att lösa dessa problem startades en designprocess, med vald ingenjörsmetod. Denna metod valdes på grund av typen av problem. I ingenjörsmetoden identifieras problemet för att skapa en lösning till problemet, jämfört men en vetenskaplig metod, där en fråga besvaras. Resultatet från denna rapport är ett produkttjänstesystem (PSS) för ett spårningssystem för att kunna spåra material på dagens och framtida byggarbetsplatser. När denna lösning skapades togs det ingen hänsyn till de ekonomiska aspekterna. Fokus på denna rapport är de första stegen för att gå från dagens byggarbetsplatser mot de framtida byggplatserna där autonomiska fordon kommer att användas. Resultatet av forskningen visade att det finns ett stort behov av att organisera de olika byggarbetsplatserna som besöktes under studiebesöken. Arbetarna har idag ett litet förtroende för de autonoma fordonen som är ett resultat av bristande information och kommunikation inom företagen. För att kunna gå till en autonom framtid måste tankesätt och attityd ändras. Den samlade data analyserades och resultatet var ett spårningssystem som gör det möjligt för både människor och maskiner att lokalisera material på dagens och framtida byggarbetsplatser. Med denna lösning kan dagens arbetare enkelt spåra materialet, utan att behöva omstrukturera arbetsplatsen. De autonoma fordonen kommer kunna använda spårningssystem för att kunna lokalisera material när det inte finns några människor till hands.

Genom en användarcentrerad produktutvecklingsprocess har ett framtidskoncept förtrygghetslarm utvecklats. Det framtagna trygghetslarmet ämnar stärka användarenssjälvständighet genom ett preventivt, istället för enbart reaktivt arbete.Det preventiva arbetet inleds genom att larmet introduceras i ett tidigare skede för att med hjälpav sensorer och Artificiell Intelligens förebygga åldersrelaterade sjukdomar. Genom tidigimplementering finns larmet också till hands redan innan olyckan inträffat.Syftet med projektet var att med ett tjänstedesign-perspektiv undersöka vad som skapar trygghetför användaren samt hur det stödjs i en produkt och tjänst. Under arbetet trädde en komplexbehovsbild fram som skiftade, inte bara mellan användare, utan även för den enskildeanvändaren över tid. Därför skapades ett modulbaserat produkt-tjänstesystem som innefattar treproduktvarianter som tillsammans tillgodoser de allra flesta användarnas behov.Ett tjänstebaserat trygghetslarm med möjlighet till uppgraderingar, byten och reparationerinnebär i längden en högre konkurrenskraft och en mer hållbar modell där användarens ochvårdbolagens behov bättre tillgodoses. En tjänst som bygger på en applikationsbaseradplattform kan anpassas för användaren och tillgängliggöra relevant information för att minskadet utanförskap som många användare upplever.Genom en iterativ process av interaktioner, insikter och konceptgenerering bidrogtjänstedesignperspektivet med en behovsbaserad analys. Produkt-tjänstesystemets utformningär baserat på insikter som erhölls under kontextuella intervjuer. Intervjuerna involverade olikaaktörer såsom vårdgivare, teknikbolag och forskare men främst dagens och den kommandegenerationens användare. Syftet var att skapa ett brett underlag som bidrar till en holistisk bildav användarens behov.Vid interaktioner framkom att larmet måste vara mobilt och kunna ange position. Mobilitetbidrar till ett tryggt aktivt liv utanför hemmet. Att hålla sig fysiskt och socialt aktiv menar WorldHealth Organisation, WHO, är grunden för ett självständigt och hälsosamt åldrande som är enförutsättning för att kunna möta utmaningarna med en åldrande befolkning.För att attrahera användare måste associationerna kring trygghetslarmet förskjutas frånhjälplöshet till självständighet, aktivitet och välbefinnande. Genom att tidigt introducera larmetsom ett hälsofrämjande verktyg kan det arbeta preventivt. Med hjälp av AI, rörelse- ochpulssensor kan exempelvis förmaksflimmer upptäckas och behandlas innan det leder till stroke.I kombination med inbyggd fallsensor kan larm skickas automatiskt vid behov. Integreradtelefoni skapar trygghet genom förbättrad kommunikation.Kombinationen av modulär produktutveckling, produkt-tjänstesystem och cirkulär ekonomierbjuder ett mer hållbart produktsystem som leder till starkare konkurrenskraft, bättreindividanpassning och längre hållbarhet. Det vore önskvärt om aktörer inom trygghetslarmuppdaterade sina affärsmodeller för att erbjuda nya ägarmodeller. Vårdbolag skulle ges störremöjlighet att erbjuda den senaste tekniken och skulle inte dras med föråldrad teknik på grundav tidigare gjorda investeringar, vilket skulle innebära en säkrare och tryggare vård. / Through a user-centered product development process, a future concept for medical alertsystems has been developed. The developed medical alert system aims to strengthen the user'sindependence through preventive, rather than reactive work.The preventive work is initiated by the early implementation of the alarm to prevent agerelateddiseases using sensors and Artificial Intelligence. By early implementation, the alarmis also available even before the accident occur.The purpose of the project was to investigate what creates safety for the user and how it issupported in a product and service with a service design perspective. During the work, acomplex image of the users needs emerged that changed, not only between users, but also forthe individual user over time. Therefore, a modular product service system was created thatincludes three product variants that together meet the needs of most users.A service-based medical alert system with the possibility of upgrades, replacements and repairsmeans long-term competitiveness and a more sustainable model that better meet the needs ofthe user and healthcare companies. A service based on an application-based platform can becustomized to the user and make relevant information available to reduce the exclusion thatmany users experience.Through an iterative process of interactions, insights and concept generation, the service designperspective contributed with a needs-based analysis. The design of the product service systemis based on insights obtained during contextual interviews. The interviews involved differentactors such as healthcare providers, technology companies and researchers, but mainly oftoday's and next-generation users. The purpose was to create a broad basis that contributes to aholistic view of the user´s need.Through interactions it was found that the alarm must be mobile and be able to share its position.Mobility contributes to a safe active life outside the home. Keeping physically and sociallyactive is according to the World Health Organization, WHO, the foundation for independentand healthy aging and is a prerequisite for meeting the challenges of an aging population.To attract users, the association to the medical alert system must be shifted from helplessnessto independence, activity and well-being. By introducing the alarm early as a health-promotingtool, it can work preventively. For example, by means of AI, motion and pulse sensors, atrialfibrillation can be detected and treated before it leads to stroke. In combination with the builtinfall sensor, alarms can be sent automatically when needed. Integrated telephony createssecurity through much improved communication.The combination of modular product development, product service systems and circulareconomy offers a more sustainable product system, that leads to greater competitiveness, betterindividualization and longer durability. It would be desirable for actors within medical alertsystems to update their business models to offer new ownership models. The healthcarecompanies would have a greater opportunity to offer the latest technology and would not bebound to outdated technology due to previously made investments, which would mean a saferand more secure elderly care.

One of the largest challenges’ mankind is currently facing has been recognized to be climate change. Moving towards climate neutrality, decoupling economic growth from resource use, and at the same time ensuring long-term competitiveness becomes highly important. A possible path to decrease our impact on the environment is to switch from linear to circular material flows, which is today referred to as a circular economy. In a circular economy, assets that are being reused will induce a demand for transportation. Understanding how the transportation demand could be affected is important, since the sector is widely known through its environmental impact causing impaired life expectancy in many parts of the world. This study examines therefore variables in circular businesses that could affect transportation demand both directly and indirectly. These variables have been identified by interviewing eight businesses that employ repair & reuse configurations in a circular context. The study concludes that transportation could be affected in numerous ways, depending on the system's future development. If the current linear paradigm still governs the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), it will be hard to increase the amount of viable products circulating in the system. The current paradigm has been recognized to be a large barrier due to the high uncertainty of OEMs continuance in a transition to a circular economy. If OEM collaboration could be increased extensively, the system could increase its growth. Further, customer behaviour has also been identified to be a driver for both increasing and decreasing transportation in the system. Increasing the amount of viable products circulating in a circular system comes naturally, as the trade-off in Co2-emissions between increased transportation and newly produced products is prominent. Having such a holistic view argues for the implementation, but the system still has implications regarding sustainability. As the trade-off is continuously made, demand for transportation will be increasing as the system grows. Looking at this from the perspective of the transportation industry, such implementation could make it harder to decrease its Co2-emissions with 70% by 2030, which is the goal set by the Swedish government. / De pågående klimatförändringarna är en av vår tids största utmaningar. Att minska resursanvändningen och samtidigt bibehålla samhällets ekonomiska tillväxt ses därför som väsentligt för att nå ökad klimatneutralitet. Till följd av detta har den cirkulära ekonomin utvecklats där linjära produktflöden ersätts av cirkulära. Skiftet till cirkulära flöden kommer troligen bidra till ett nytt transportbehov då produkter i större utsträckning byter användare. Att förstå och kunna redogöra hur det uppkomna transportbehovet ser ut är av betydelse då transportsektorn i sig utgör en stor utmaning i arbetet med att minska den totala klimatpåverkan. Denna studie ämnar därför att studera åtta cirkulära företag och dess verksamheter för att identifiera centrala variabler som har en direkt eller indirekt påverkan på behovet av transporter. Studien visar på att transportbehovet kan tänkas påverkas på olika sätt beroende hur det cirkulära systemet utvecklas framöver. Om det linjära paradigmet fortsätter att gynna originaltillverkare, tillika produkttillverkare, kommer det bli svårt för det cirkulära systemet att uppnå några betydande volymer. Det linjära systemet har identifierats vara en barriär då det förblir osäkert till vilken grad produkttillverkare är redo att bidra till de nya cirkulära flödena. Om tillverkare blir mer öppna och möjliggör för externa aktörer att reparera och hantera deras produkter så spås de cirkulära flödena öka. Vidare så har kundbeteende identifierats som en drivande faktor som både kan leda till en ökad och minskad mängd transporter inom det cirkulära systemet. Att öka mängden cirkulerande produkter kommer naturligt eftersom utsläppsnyttan är betydande vid jämförelse av ökade transporter och nytillverkning av produkter. Helhetsperspektivet argumenterar således för att öka cirkulära produktflöden. En ökad mängd cirkulära produkter kan dock innebära stora utmaningar för transportsektorn och dess förmåga att nå de uppsatta klimatmålen.

The contemporary global automotive industry has persisted, relatively unchanged, since its inception over a century ago. However, it appears that major changes may be underfoot with increasing environmental, social, and economic pressures to improve the industry's long-term sustainability. An alternative model, known as Micro-Factory Retailing (MFR), guided by the emerging field of Industrial Ecology (IE) has been proposed as a possible solution to the industry’s sustainability crisis. This thesis will explore the prospects of MFR in Canada and propose the use of 3D printed electric vehicles as a means to facilitate sustainable system innovation. To demonstrate the feasibility of this proposed technological pathway, three entrepreneurial firms attempting to disrupt the way in which cars are made, sold, and used will be studied. Although the timeline of such a major transition is currently unknown, Canada should act proactively to transition its role in the global automotive sector and lead the way towards a more sustainable automotive ecosystem through MFR. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Preliminary investigation at the beginning of this research showed that informatics on point-of-care (POC) devices was limited to basic data generation and processing. This thesis is based on publications of several studies during the course of the research. The aim of the research is to model and analyse information generation and exchange in telehealth systems and to identify and analyse the capabilities of these systems in managing chronic diseases which utilise point-of-care devices. The objectives to meet the aim are as follows: (i) to review the state-of-the-art in informatics and decision support on point-of-care devices. (ii) to assess the current level of servitization of POC devices used within the home environment. (iii) to identify current models of information generation and exchange for POC devices using a telehealth perspective. (iv) to identify the capabilities of telehealth systems. (v) to evaluate key components of telehealth systems (i.e. POC devices and intermediate devices). (vi) to analyse the capabilities of telehealth systems as enablers to a healthcare policy. The literature review showed that data transfer from devices is an important part of generating information. The implication of this is that future designs of devices should have efficient ways of transferring data to minimise the errors that may be introduced through manual data entry/transfer. The full impact of a servitized model for point-of-care devices is possible within a telehealth system, since capabilities of interpreting data for the patient will be offered as a service (c.f. NHS Direct). This research helped to deduce components of telehealth systems which are important in supporting informatics and decision making for actors of the system. These included actors and devices. Telehealth systems also help facilitate the exchange of data to help decision making to be faster for all actors concerned. This research has shown that a large number of capability categories existed for the patients and health professionals. There were no capabilities related to the caregiver that had a direct impact on the patient and health professional. This was not surprising since the numbers of caregivers in current telehealth systems was low. Two types of intermediate devices were identified in telehealth systems: generic and proprietary. Patients and caregivers used both types, while health professionals only used generic devices. However, there was a higher incidence of proprietary devices used by patients. Proprietary devices possess features to support patients better thus promoting their independence in managing their chronic condition. This research developed a six-step methodology for working from government objectives to appropriate telehealth capability categories. This helped to determine objectives for which a telehealth system is suitable.

本論文研究在於一行動計算網路上建構一個具有服務品質保障之以代理人為基礎的服務系統以提供用戶及行動代理人的行動能力管理。此研究主要的貢獻可分為以下三方面： (1) 提出行動能力管理機制，使行動用戶能以單一用戶ID漫遊於不同的網路上 (2) 提出行動代理人行動能力管理機制，幫助系統搜尋一已派遣出之代理人以加強對代理人的管理 (3) 提出一個「以代理人 (Agent) 為基礎之有服務品質 (QoS) 保障的管理架構」以支援行動代理人及行動用戶之行動能力的管理，並確保服務品質 在本論文中，我們將探討如下的研究課題： (1) 對行動用戶之行動能力的管理 (A) 多個廣域網路管理中心架構 (B) 用戶行動能力與網路通訊時間之分析 (C) 訂定欲註冊之GNMC、LNMC選擇策略 (D) 行動用戶移動時的註冊及註銷策略 (E) 對行動用戶之位置的定位及追蹤 (F) 使用暫存器記錄以提昇用戶位置追蹤的效率 (2) 對行動代理人之管理 (A) 對行動代理人之多種搜尋策略 (B) 於每次搜尋時，移除最多之代理人不可能停留之主機的個數 (C) 預測代理人位於某一特定主機的機率 (D) 動態轉換搜尋策略的機制 (E) 計算搜尋某一代理人所需拜訪之主機的期望個數 (F) 搜尋時配合代理人監聽的機制 (3) 設計及建構一「有服務品質保障之以代理人為基礎的服務系統」 (A) 系統架構 (B) 定義代理人服務系統中每一元件之功用及實作細節 (C) 代理人管理機制 (D) 服務品質表示方法 (E) 有服務品質保障之服務 / In this research, we study the issues of building a QoS agent-based service system in managing client mobility and agent mobility for mobile computing network. Our major contribution is classified into the following three categories: (1) Propose sets of client mobility management strategies to support clients roaming on different networks (2) Propose mobile agent search strategies to manage mobile agent mobility (3) Propose a QoS agent-based management architecture to manage clients and agents mobilities; and provide service to clients with QoS guarantee. The details are elaborated as follows: (1) Mobile client mobility management (A) Multiple GNMCs Architecture (B) Modeling client mobility behavior and network communication time (C) Criteria of choosing GNMC and LNMC for registration (D) Registration and de-registration strategies of mobile clients (E) Location tracking of mobile clients (F) Location tracking with cache policy (2) Mobile agent mobility management (A) Search strategies for mobile agents (B) Maximizing number of excluded servers in each probe (C) Estimating the residing probability that an agent resides in a server (D) Dynamic switching agent search policy (E) Evaluating the expected probing number when searches an agent (F) Agent search with listening agent (3) Design and implement a QoS agent-based service system (A) An proposed agent system architecture (B) Functionalities and implementation details of the system components (C) Agent manager design details (D) User QoS assignment and mapping to system QoS (E) Service with QoS guarantee

The purpose of the research is to study the “Orange and Ericsson case” while developing the method Actors and System Map. The interaction between actors within Ericsson’s Device Connection Platform is investigated in order to identify improvement opportunities in the interaction between the provider and the customer. To answer the purpose the following research questions was formulated: RQ1)  What type of actors may be involved in a telecom related IPSO? RQ2)  How can the connections between actors in the telecom related IPSO be illustrated? RQ3)  How can the Actors and System Map method be refined? In order to answer the research questions different methodologies were used for the analysing process. The research started with a widespread literature study to collect knowledge related to the area of Product Service System (PSS) and methodologies for identifying how actors interact with one another. Studying different mapping methods the conclusion was made that Actors and System Map was most suitable for this study. In the methodology background the previous selected method, Actors and System Map from an Integrated Product Service Offering (IPSO) perspective, was examined in order to be able to refine and improve the mapping method. Actors Map provides a visual and clear overview of the actors involved while a System Map shows the information flows and activities between the actors. To understand the interaction between the two companies, the definition of IPSO and the importance of value-based selling for a service offering are described in the theory background. Also, different ways of looking at a business model within the telecommunication industry is presented. Obtaining information regarding making an Actors Map and a System Map an improved mapping method was refined. The adaption of the method was divided into eight steps. The refined Actors Maps of the DCP shows the actors involved, how they are connected and their main assignments from each respondent’s point of view at Ericsson. The refined System Map shows what kind of information is transferred between the actors within the companies and between Orange and Ericsson. Both maps delivered as a decision basis will help identification of non-value giving links and non-optimal distances in the information flow for both companies.