KT-Box: Increasing value generation from complex engineering services

Introduction

Engineering products are becoming increasingly complex and costly as new technologies are developed and customers' requirements grow. Replacing products is often prohibitively expensive and they must spend ever longer periods in-service, with reduced time allowed for maintenance. Longer life cycles mean that requirements evolve and products must be modified to meet these needs. Customers therefore need to co-operate with suppliers and effectively employ their combined skills and knowledge for maintenance and other product support. Suppliers must change the way their businesses operate and add new service and supply management skills, while retaining leading edge design and production capabilities.

KT-Box takes recent research findings from engineering, technology, business and the social sciences and turns them into tools, techniques and processes suitable for widespread adoption by UK industry and the public sector.

The KT-Box partners are all members of the S4T consortium. S4T (Support Service Solutions: Strategy and Transition) is an EPSRC/BAE Systems supported research programme studying how manufacturers of complex engineering products can realise additional value from product related services. S4T researchers have identified findings suitable for early exploitation (1-3 years) by UK suppliers and users of complex engineering products, and secured funding from the EPSRC to promote their adoption.

KT-Box will enable organisations of all sizes and across sectors in both industry and the public sector to realise value from complex, product related services, through:

• The development of software tools, workbooks and training materials for industrial practitioners to apply the latest research to real problems.
• Providing micro-tools enabling general managers to audit current capabilities and identify opportunities, in one working day or less.
• Embedding knowledge transfer associates in industry, providing the resource to develop and apply new techniques and processes.
• Combined toolsets and industrially relevant demonstrators to show the value of integrated service provision.