A method for identifying architectural solutions for potential intelligent goods services

Purpose of this paper:This paper presents a method for identifying possible architectural solutions for potential intelligent goods services. The solutions range from implementing all service intelligence at the goods level to requiring no goods intelligence at all. The paper also shows how different solutions, identified by the method, can be compared and evaluated through quality analysis in order to determine when intelligent goods are beneficial.Design/methodology/approach:Literature and case studies, and theoretical analyses form the foundations of the paper. The method is based on a general framework for describing intelligent goods systems, which involves several levels of intelligence related to both the goods and the local entities surrounding the goods. Three specific services are used to illustrate the method. The quality analysis is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and a number of proposed quality attributes.Findings:The paper illustrates how the framework can be used to identify relevant architectural solutions for a particular service, with different levels of intelligence on the goods. It also shows how to qualitatively analyze individual solutions and suggests an extension to the general framework for describing intelligent goods systems.Research limitations/implications:The paper does not contain measured data to base the quality analysis on. Testing the method and quality analysis on implemented cases is recommended for future work.What is original/value of paper:The novel method and approach for identifying and evaluating architectural solutions for potential intelligent goods services, are useful in general management when investigating the value of implementing intelligent goods. The paper also contributes to the description of intelligent goods systems