New research grant: The role of consumers in driving UK manufacturing’s digital transformation

I am delighted to share the news that I am part of group that has just secured funding from ESRC’s InterAct initiative. The project is entitled “The role of consumers in driving UK manufacturing’s digital transformation” and aims to identify the factors that lead consumers to adopt new Everything as a Service (XaaS) models of consumption of manufactured goods.

XaaS is a business model whereby consumers derive value by accessing a product’s benefits rather than by owning it, and can take different forms. In this project, we will explore two specific formats: stewardship and usership. Benefits of XaaS include extending the life cycle of a product, reducing electronic waste, increasing consumer retention, and improving the flexibility of manufacturing processes, among many others.

XaaS is, already, technically possible, through the combination of technologies such as the internet of things and big data, or applications such as digital manufacturing and robotics as a service. However, it is unclear which factors support consumers’ transition from an ownership-based model of consumption to either the stewardship or the usership one. And, without this understanding, it is too risky for any single manufacturer to make the move towards XaaS models.

Therefore, our project will be looking at: “What are the factors that drive consumers to adopt XaaS models of consumption of manufactured goods?”

Given the exploratory nature of this project, the investigation will focus specifically on washing machines, and we will be pursuing the following objectives:

1. Analyse viable XaaS models for washing machines
2. Identify the factors influencing consumers’ acceptance of XaaS for washing machines, through focus groups
3. Test the impact of those key factors in driving demand for washing machines, via experiments
4. Develop recommendations to support the development and implementation of XaaS, in UK manufacturing, which will be disseminated via a report, a video and various other outlets.

The team includes (in alphabetical order):

• Ahmad Beltagui, from Aston University
• Maren Schnieder, from Anglia Ruskin University
• Niraj Kumar, from the University of Essex
• Ramin Behbehani, from Brunel University London

With research support from Daniela Castillo, from the University of Malta.

The project starts, formally, on September 1^st. The findings will allow manufacturers to assess the risk of adoption of XaaS, and to evaluate the business case for incorporating digital technologies and adopting flexible manufacturing practices.

If you have any suggestions, if you have contacts in the washing-machine industry, or if you might be interested in joining our customers’ focus groups (scheduled for December) or experiments (scheduled for March), please get in contact.