Fourth industrial revolution, digital servitization and relationship quality in Italian B2B manufacturing firms. An exploratory study

Abstract

PurposeIndustry 4.0 is dramatically affecting businesses behaviours and strategies, transforming products design, manufacture, operations and services. An outcome of this transformation is digital servitization. This paper aims to contribute to the extant literature about digital servitization in B2B contexts by analysing how I4.0-based servitization affects the quality of supplier–customer relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted a qualitative methodology based on an exploratory multiple case study. In particular, the study included 22 Italian B2B manufacturing firms whose I4.0-based digital servitization approaches are described and, then, analysed in relation to the quality of supplier–customer relationships.FindingsThe access to customers and data is critical to enable advanced digital services and for improving relationship quality; the levels of relational intimacy and informational openness lead to two subsequent levels of data-driven efficiency and data-driven effectiveness, impacting significantly on relationship quality and enabling relational innovation.Originality/valueThe research explores the link, so far underestimated, between digital servitization and relationship quality in industrial contexts.

Digital service innovation: a paradigm shift in technological innovation

“…Technological development and the globalization of economic production activities have been regarded as both drivers and enablers of servitization deployment by manufacturing firms aiming to achieve and maintain a competitive edge in increasingly globalized markets (Buckley et al, 2020;Crozet and Milet, 2017;Grandinetti et al, 2020). Servitization corresponds to the transition from selling products and postsale services to offering extended life-span services in the form of customized, integrated solutions and product-service systems (Lafuente et al, 2017;Vendrell-Herrero et al, 2021b).…”

Toward a multilevel perspective on digital servitization

“…Furthermore, co-creation practices in which complementary capabilities are exchanged can generate interactively developed capabilities enhancing, among others, knowledge and service development (Raddats et al, 2017). Finally, being able to access customers and data (Grandinetti et al, 2020) and actively involve clients in the co-creation process (Saunila et al, 2019;Sj€ odin et al, 2020) is essential too.…”

A digital servitization framework for viable manufacturing companies

“…Internally, manufacturers can improve operational efficiency through automation (Coreynen et al , 2017). Externally, digitization enables companies to integrate their processes with customers’ value processes, generating innovative solutions for competing in complex markets (Ulaga and Reinartz, 2011; Grandinetti et al , 2020). To respond to challenges, companies need to reconfigure their organizational behaviors.…”