Anna Hiltunen

With the advent of new digital technologies, manufacturers are gradually moving away from traditional products towards greater focus on sophisticated digital services (“digital servitization”). The collection of diverse data sets enabled by connectivity through cyber-physical systems opens untapped business opportunities for industrial manufacturers transforming their business models.

Thus, this thesis aims to uncover novel ways for creating and capturing monetary value in industrial B2B contexts through an interdisciplinary lens of business, engineering and computer science. In particular, it examines the strategic, organizational, and infrastructural requirements of industrial machinery manufacturers to develop innovative business models in collaboration with ecosystem partners in order to monetize product-generated data, develop new revenue streams, and strengthen long-term customer relationships through integrated digital service platforms.

The central research question is: How can manufacturing firms develop innovative business models that integrate physical and digital assets to generate new innovative value propositions and offerings?

To address this research question, a qualitative case study approach is employed to explore companies´ challenges and potential coping mechanisms through in-depth case analyses of their  solutions and ecosystem structures. Research data is collected in the form of interviews.