PROTEUS at a glance

PROTEUS (PROduct/service-system Tools for Ensuring User-oriented Service) is an innovation consortium, which isworking to jointly develop new knowledge about how after-sales service can be effectively integrated into business development and industrial organisations, so as to become a source of revenue, rather than a cost to the providing company. 

The innovation consortium is funded by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation to simultaneously create research insights and innovation results over a prolonged (3-5 year) collaborative project, consisting of representatives from Danish research institutions, a technical service partner (consultancy), international university partners and ten maritime companies. The ten participating companies in the project are interested in understanding, through examples, how to effectively and systematically integrate service development into their product development and business creation processes. 

The idea behind establishing PROTEUS as a research project has been to create a unique opportunity, both industry-wise and research-wise, to begin to address some of these issues on an entire industry branch. The project is organised into five work packages, each with its unique focus on PSS.


The name of the consortium, PROTEUS, it is also an apt title, as it is the name of a mythological Greek sea-god, symbol of adaptability in the face of the changing nature of the sea.

But what is PSS?

Product/Service-Systems (PSS) is an innovation strategy, where a greater  integration of products and services has the potential to decouple business  success and economic growth from mere product sales. Instead of viewing a product as an isolated entity, the PSS design activity  focuses on creating the right combination of products and services, needed  to aid the customer in reaching their goal.