A General Overview of Manufacturing Servitization in Italy

The process that involves companies developing the capabilities to provide services and solutions that supplement their traditional product offerings is commonly called servitization. With regards to manufacturing, the servitization process has been found to provide many advantages, such as: increasing the value of the offering, enhancing product customization, developing customers’ loyalty, generating profits throughout the whole product life cycle, etc. Despite the many studies related to this process, there is a major lack concerning its quantification. Through an in-depth analysis of medium-large size Italian companies in the manufacturing sector, this paper examines the process of servitization proposing (i) an assessment of its extent in terms of percentage of servitized companies (ii) a taxonomy of the services offered and (iii) an estimation of their relative diffusion. Also, the paper offers a perspective on the effects that this process may have on production technologies and systems.