Feeding a growing global population is a momentous task and embracing digital tools will be key to securing a sustainable food supply. Yet how can the world’s army of smallholders afford and access this technology? Only by shifting the focus from up-front capital expenditure to long-term outcome-based services can we achieve the democratisation of digital […]
Q&A with Charlotte Horobin, Region Director – Midlands & East of England, Make UK Make UK champions engineering and manufacturing across the UK, giving businesses an opportunity to connect, share, and create opportunities. As Regional Director, Charlotte Horobin works to engage companies and help them thrive through bespoke introductions, providing industry insight, hosting events, facilitating […]
People are increasingly choosing services over product ownership. As we shift our focus to buying outcomes rather than goods, manufacturers are building resilience through as-a-service business models. Servitization, the process through which companies compete by offering services rather than simply the sale of products, opens up new revenue streams and can help address some of […]
By 2050, one in six people in the world will be over the age of 65 – up from 1 in 11 in 2019 – according to the United Nations. While the advancement of this trend varies globally, all societies in the world are on the path to a more elderly population. Older people account […]
Schneider Electric is a multinational business headquartered in France, generating €25.7bn revenue in 2018 and employing over 137,000 people worldwide, with a presence in over 100 countries. Its product range covers building automation, industrial safety and control systems, electric power distribution and power management, electrical grid automation and critical power and cooling for data centres. […]
We welcome our guest blogger Thomas Fraser-Bacon, Marketing Director at Allsee Technologies Having been part of Allsee Technologies for over 10 years, Thomas Fraser-Bacon has facilitated significant growth of the business within the digital signage and commercial display market. In his role as Marketing Director he has been instrumental in shaping the direction of the […]
Across all areas of our lives, there is growing appetite for service solutions. Be it individuals or businesses, attention is turning from owning products to securing outcomes. The as-a-service revolution is changing mindsets and fuelling innovation in design, technology, and business solutions. Focusing on outcomes is not only helping our companies boost competitiveness and exploit […]
Birmingham business Electric Zoo has worked with Aston Business School to help drive the adoption of electric vehicles. The electric car subscription company joined the school’s Advanced Services Group SME Partnership to develop its advanced services offer and tap into growing demand for sustainable transport. Husband and wife team Charnjit and Lash Saranna have a […]
Bromsgrove-based Central Scanning is working with academics from Aston Business School to develop a new rental model making it easier for clients to exploit 3D scanning technology. The company enrolled on the school’s Advanced Services Group SME Partnership Programme to access free expertise and is adapting its business model to look beyond one-off sales and […]
Another May and another Spring Servitization Conference (SSC)! Last week, we concluded the 11th edition of the conference and, although we had planned to be in Florence, we ended up on Zoom for obvious reasons. Since its inception, SSC has been dedicated to understanding how organisations can develop and adapt their business models through servitization […]
How Aston academics support SME business transformation through the power of narrative. Aston Business School is helping companies manage change through the use of narrative. The school’s free SME Partnership programme has worked with over 300 businesses on developing their service offer and is putting storytelling at the heart of its teaching. Managing organisational change […]
We have recently collaborated with the Manufacturers Alliance (MAPI), a nonprofit professional society based in the US that supports manufacturing leaders. Our joint project was survey research into industrial manufacturers’ current state and readiness to build business resilience through advanced services. The result of the research is now available for download on the MAPI website.