Equipment-as-a-Service – necessary changes for service-based business
models
Authors: Evcenko Dimitri , Kett Holger , Falkner Jürgen 
Published: July 2023

Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) describes a paradigm in which all
resources of an ecosystem are offered as services. If this approach is
applied in the manufacturing industry with physical goods such as machines
or equipment, we talk about Equipment-as-a-Service (EaaS). Depending on the
value proposition of the EaaS, a distinction can be made between
availability, utility, result, and success centric EaaS business models. For
example, in availability centric EaaS business models, the value proposition
consists of the availability of a service with agreed performance standards,
with the billing parameter being the time in which it is being made
available. In dependency of the value proposition the service provider takes
over several risks. One risk he always must take over is the investment risk
for the equipment To be able to realize the value propositions listed above
and to assess and take over the risks, there is a need for change in the
company of the provider. This work shows this need for change as a basis for
the planning and implementation of EaaS services.To identify the need for
change we conducted three workshops of 120 minutes each with 7 small and
medium-sized enterprises (SME) from the field of mechanical and plant
engineering to develop one of their transactional business models
conceptually into an EaaS business model. The methodical approach of the
workshops followed three phases which are necessary for the development of
an EaaS business model: (1) target group orientation, (2) EaaS service and
delivery and (3) benefit and pricing model. In the first phase, the focus is
on the target group and its needs, which shall be satisfied with an EaaS
service. The second phase focuses on the EaaS itself, which consists of
physical and digital service components. In addition, the own organizational
and technical as well as the cooperative structures required for the service
provision are considered. In the third phase, a subscription-based pricing
model must be developed based on the provided benefits.The results show that
understanding EaaS users is fundamental in the development of an EaaS
service. Since these are a combination of physical and digital service
components, they can be designed very individually to meet the customer
needs. This combination means that different types of users can and should
be addressed in a company. This requires the development of additional
services and the definition of performance guarantees, whose fulfillments
should be made transparent to the service user. To do that corresponding
technical and organizational measures are necessary, for which, for example,
the digital support of administrative processes by monitoring systems or the
change in sales or product management is required. If these requirements
cannot be met with the company's internal structures, strategic partnerships
with insurance companies, banks or IT providers are necessary to support the
EaaS provider. All these changes require not only technological and
organizational adjustments but also new pricing models, which are reflected
in new methods for price calculation and usage assessment.