Functional Thinking for Value Creation Proceedings of the 3rd CIRP International Conference on Industrial Product Service Systems, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany, May 5th - 6th, 2011

After the IPS² conferences in Cranfield and Linköping in 2009 and 2010 the 3rd CIRP International Conference on Industrial Product Service Systems (IPS²) 2011 takes place in Braunschweig, Germany. IPS² itself is defined as “an integrated industrial product and service offering that delivers value in use”. The customers expect comprehensive solutions, which are adapted to their individual needs. IPS² offers the possibility to stand out from competition and for long-term customer loyalty. Particularly in times of economic crisis it becomes apparent which producing companies understand to satisfy the needs and requirements of their customers. Especially in this relatively new domain IPS² it will be important to keep track of the whole context and to seek cooperation with other research fields and disciplines. The 3rd CIRP International Conference on Industrial Product Service Systems (IPS²) 2011 serves as a platform for such collaborations and the discussion of new scientific ideas.

Professor Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Hesselbach is the President of the Technische Universität Braunschweig since January 2005 (re-elected in 2010) and the Head of the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology. In 2009 and 2010 he was the Chairman of the Presidential Committee of the Niedersächsische Technische Hochschule (NTH) and is now member of the Presidential committee. Additionally, he became the Head of the Landeshochschulkonferenz Niedersachsen (LHK) in 2011. His research activities are focussed on production automation, control systems and handling technology. He is member of CIRP, ACATECH , WGP, IFTOMM.

PD Dr.-Ing. Christoph Herrmann is member of the board of the Institute of Machine Tools and Production Technology (IWF) at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany, and head of the Product- and Life-Cycle-Management Research Group. He is one of the heads of the Joint German-Australian Research Group “Sustainable Production and Life Cycle Management” (www.sustainable-manufacturing.com). Since August 2009 he is also scientific director and member of the board of the NFF – Niedersächsisches Forschungszentrum Fahrzeugtechnik (Automotive Research Center Niedersachsen), Germany. From 2005 to 2008 he was head of science of the KERP Center of Excellence Electronics & Environment, Vienna, Austria.