Servitization of Security Entrances

Abstract

Servitization. It can be seen in all branches and it seems as if every company is shifting towards a business model where they do not only sell products, but offer service, financing and advice. The security branche is no different. With companies wanting to focus on their core business they do not longer want to buy security cameras, locks and gates. Their real need: the ability to work and store on a secure location. Part of this is having a secure entrance that fits with their needs. Boon Edam is a company that claims to be: ‘your entry expert’. Following the servitization trend they want to invest in a service for their clients and create a competitive advantage in the market. The goal of this thesis is to create a strategy for Boon Edam that creates this competitive advantage in the market. This strategy is based on a model for finding opportunities for security services, as designed by the author. This model is iterated several times during the thesis as more information is found from practice. The author uses customer driven design to create a service that fits with the demands and needs of Boon Edams client. First a research is conducted to provide a starting point for the graduation project. This also provides a general understanding in different aspects related to Boon Edam and security entrances, as well as a first view on requirements for the design. The research consists of various methods to understand and visualize the position of different stakeholders. After this, six stakeholders of Boon Edam are interviewed to provide qualitative insights in the customer needs. This results in reviewed thoughts on assumptions made in the research phase, as well as a framework for the design of the service. Using the framework and the information of the interviews a service is proposed which should provide Boon Edam with the competitive advantage. The service focusses on improving the customer relationship by offering them more support in their decision making and evaluating and improving their entrance solution. According to Baines et al. (2017) this can be seen as advanced services, which should lead to: - Growth in revenue and profit - Improved responses to customer needs - Improved product innovation - The building of new revenue streams - Increasing customer loyalty - Setting higher barriers to competition After the design of the proposed service is explained an implementation plan is written for Boon Edam to adopt the service within their portfolio. With this implementation plan it should be possible to have the service fully implemented at the end of 2019 latest.