A System Quality Attributes Ontology for Product-Service Systems Functional Measurement based on a Holistic Approach

The importance of cost engineering within Product- Service Systems (PSS) discipline has increased in recent years. Literature reveals that there is a need for holistic PSS cost determination approaches dealing both with PSS cost engineering and PSS functional uncertainty - as a System of Systems (SoS), as PSS cost determination uncertainty arises from the limited understanding of PSS behavior as a SoS. This work proposes a System Quality Attributes (SQA) Ontology developed to measure the function of a PSS: How well it performs in light of its intended purpose? The PSS-SQA Ontology was constructed on the foundations of SoS Engineering and Reliability Engineering disciplines. It propose a holistic approach to PSS functional measurement, covering the most accepted PSS typology, including product-,use- and result-oriented PSSs. The work contributes to PSS engineering by offering an SQA Ontology that quantifies PSS functionality and reduces PSS functional uncertainty for further cost determination. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.