Business strategies for competitive succession have been captivating the attention of scientists and entrepreneurs from all over the world. As more competitive circumstances are reached within a market, the value perspective expressed by consumers becomes increasingly relevant. The manufacturing industry has somewhat been resistant to incorporating soft consumer values into their business models, as many of them are built up by traditional price- and firm-centric structures and belief systems. In this thesis, we explore how embracing these values can benefit manufacturers and how to strategically use value creation and value capturing processes. Previous research on the topic has found that the ability to create and capture soft values has grown in other industries, however, the manufacturing industry has not yet fully embraced this trend. The reason is mainly due to their traditional structure. If manufacturers do not act now, they are threatened by a decline in market share that might lead to a market exit.  This thesis performs a case study of a Nordic rock bolt manufacturer and investigates what soft values are and how they can be utilized in the manufacturing industry. A question to ask while researching this topic, is what does the consumer evaluate when purchasing rock bolts from the manufacturer? To collect the answers, 6 different methods were used, including a field visit to a mine in Finland and several semi-structured interviews with representatives and actors in the Nordic rock bolt manufacturing industry. The various methods were all applied to get a holistic view of the problematization.  The study identified 9 soft values among rock bolt consumers that can be utilized in different value creation and capture processes. These soft values are based on the needs and wants that matter in the purchasing decision. Manufacturers should seek new and innovative ways of meeting consumer needs and wants. This means engaging with consumers and opening up for value co-creating opportunities. In turn, consumer knowledge will be beneficial to the manufacturer’s competitiveness. Furthermore, service-centric strategies, such as servitization, are ways for product companies to capture consumer value. Moreover, to further gain purchasing interest, it is suggested that manufacturers could incorporate value-based pricing strategies. This can promote the benefits of the manufacturer’s product, leading to a price setting that primarily is based on consumer-perceived values.  All in all, this study has demonstrated the importance and opportunity of soft value identification, creation, and capturing in the manufacturing industry by showing how price can be trumped by other, softer, values influencing the decision-making process.

This research attempted to discover how Additive Manufacturing (AM) can best be used to increase the value of personalised consumer products and how designers can be assisted in finding an effective way to facilitate value addition within personalisable product designs. AM has become an enabler for end-users to become directly involved in product personalisation through the manipulation of three-dimensional (3D) designs of the product using easy-to-use design toolkits. In this way, end-users are able to fabricate their own personalised designs using various types of AM systems. Personalisation activity can contribute to an increment in the value of a product because it delivers a closer fit to user preferences. The research began with a literature review that covered the areas of product personalisation, additive manufacturing, and consumer value in product design. The literature review revealed that the lack of methods and tools to enable designers to exploit AM has become a fundamental challenge in fully realising the advantages of the technology. Consequently, the question remained as to whether industrial designers are able to identify the design characteristics that can potentially add value to a product, particularly when the product is being personalised by end-users using AM-enabled design tools and systems. A new value taxonomy was developed to capture the relevant value attributes of personalised AM products. The value taxonomy comprised two first-level value types: product value and experiential value. It was further expanded into six second-level value components: functional value, personal-expressive value, sensory value, unique value, co-design value, and hedonic value. The research employed a survey to assess end-users value reflection on personalised features; measuring their willingness to pay (WTP) and their intention to purchase a product with personalised features. Thereafter, an experimental study was performed to measure end-users opinions on the value of 3D-printed personalised products based on the two value types: product value and experiential value. Based on the findings, a formal added value identification method was developed to act as a design aid tool to assist designers in preparing a personalisable product design that embodies value-adding personalisation features within the product. The design method was translated into a beta-test version paper-based design workbook known as the V+APP Design Method: Design Workbook. The design aid tool was validated by expert designers. In conclusion, this research has indicated that the added value identification method shows promise as a practical and effective method in aiding expert designers to identify the potential value-adding personalisation features within personalisable AM products, ensuring they are able to fully exploit the unique characteristics and value-adding design characteristics enabled by AM. Finally, the limitations of the research have been explained and recommendations made for future work in this area.