![[logo] US EPA](../gif/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Servicizing
Green Servicizing Workshop
Workshop: The Servicizing Shift
Date: June 23-24, 2011
Location: Potomac Yard, Arlington, Virginia
Draft Agenda
EPA is requesting individuals who are well-grounded in servicizing, product-service systems, or are active servicizing customers or providers to participate.
Interested in participating? Email green_servicizing@sra.com, with “GS Workshop” in the subject line. Space is limited.
Interested in green servicizing in general? Email green_servicizing@sra.com, with “GS Interest” in the subject line.
Servicizing
"Servicizing" is shifting from a product-oriented business model to a service-oriented model to fulfill market demands.
Examples of servicizing include:
- Businesses contracting "total IT solutions" that combine leasing equipment, set-up, network management, and take-back, as an alternative to purchasing and providing in-house support for IT equipment.
- Households and businesses subscribing to a "car share" service that provides short-term use of vehicles located in special, reserved parking spaces distributed throughout an area, instead of buying and insuring a car.
- A manufacturer contracting for third-party shipping services instead of buying and operating a fleet of trucks.
Servicizing is an important part of an on-going, structural service transformation in our economy. Business approaches that link products and services in new and innovative ways are yielding practical results for business owners and customers.
To minimize environmental impacts associated with the production of goods and services, we must reframe how products create value. Products are usually a part of a system or combination of products and services designed to provide what a customer needs or wants. Offering green products is only part of the environmental solution. Moving from a product-intensive to a service-intensive business framework will help support good jobs while reducing pollution and the use of resources and energy.
Green Servicizing
Servicizing alone does not necessarily result in superior environmental results. Some servicizing models are greener than others based on the product or service’s lifecycle. "Green Servicizing" emphasizes environmental performance compared to a "business-as-usual" approach to servicizing in meeting customer needs.
Potential Benefits of Green Servicizing
The specific benefits achievable from green servicizing vary across business models. Potential benefits to providers include increased market share and expanded lines of business; increased flexibility to respond to changing market conditions, competitors or customer demands; opportunities to form new business relationships and networks; and develop spin-off innovations and integrated solutions to customer needs. Customers may realize benefits such as reduced costs in the form of reduced raw materials purchases and energy inputs; improved compliance and reduced risk due to reductions in environmental releases and use of toxic chemicals; and reduced downtime owing to enhanced maintenance. Potential benefits to the environment include reduced lifecycle material, energy, and water resource consumption and associated reductions in adverse health and safety impacts. Potential benefits to the economy include the development of new business models that strengthen competitiveness, build new markets and enhance job creation through in-person, on-site labor that enlarges the supply and demand for skilled "efficiency professionals."
For more information please see "Green Servicizing" for a More Sustainable US Economy: Key concepts, tools and analyses to inform policy engagement (PDF) (129 pp, 944K, about PDF).
