Angewandtes Service Engineering für KMU[Applied Service Engineering for SMEs]

"We know no more about services today than people knew about iron in the Iron Age." With this provocative thesis, the Swedish scientist GUMMESSON characterizes the state of research in the field of services. Above all, he complains that the object of service, its components and their interaction have not yet been extensively researched. However, this is an indispensable prerequisite for the development of new, complex services, which can be observed, for example, in the knowledge-driven progress in the development of increasingly complex technical products. In markets that are becoming increasingly dynamic, industrial companies no longer achieve decisive advantages solely through cost, quality or technology leadership. Rather, parallel to this, the development of innovative services as a differentiating feature is gaining in importance. These are increasingly becoming a decisive unique selling proposition compared to the competition. The service sector, also known as the "tertiary sector", has become increasingly important in recent decades. The process of this structural change is characterized by a significant increase in employment in the service sector. In contrast, the economic importance of traditional areas such as agriculture and forestry and manufacturing is declining.