Addressing uncertainty in estimating the cost for a Product-Service-System delivering Availability: Epistemology and Ontology

Recently there has been increase in the number of manufacturing firms offering service packages in support of their products, through performance-based or availability contracts. The delivery of “advanced services” by product-service-systems (PSS), is a knowledge-intensive socio-technical system in nature. Nonetheless, the challenges associated with addressing uncertainty in the context of estimating the cost of a PSS delivering availability need to be overcome. We will present a system-based approach and discuss the uncertainties in modelling cost for a PSS. The aim is to demonstrate the limitations of using only quantitative analysis for modelling the uncertainty in estimating the cost of providing an advance service. Building on the epistemological foundation, we then discuss uncertainty in the context of ontology modelling and conclude with final remarks and directions for future research.