Paper info

An interorganizational and multidimensional perspective on the balancing act of standardization and customization of solutions

Klas Hedvall

The paper was published at the 33rd IMP-conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2017.

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Maintenance solutions form part of the offering of many firms producing equipment. The purpose of maintenance is to ensure an efficient utilization of the equipment concerned, and to lower the risk of failure and unplanned stops. Technical characteristics of the equipment play a fundamental role for a producer when designing, developing and deploying maintenance solutions. From a purely technical perspective, maintenance solutions can be seen as suitable for standardization. In reality, however, standardization of maintenance solutions may hinder or even be counterproductive with respect to equipment utilization and operational efficiency. Variety with respect to specification and usage of the equipment instead point to the necessity to adapt maintenance solutions to the customer’s needs and the specific context in which the equipment is used. This paper provides a multidimensional and interorganizational perspective on the challenges faced when addressing the balancing act regarding customization and standardization of solutions. Specifically, drawing on data from an on-going multiple case study related to vehicle maintenance in road freight transport, the paper discusses the challenges of a truck OEM developing a vehicle maintenance solution for freight transport haulers.