What is “Industrial Service”? A Discussion Paper

Industrial services are an important source for revenue and growth for its providers. However, neither the term industrial service nor its concrete subareas are unambiguously defined. In this paper we discuss the definition of industrial service and its delineation from related concepts which can serve as a suitable foundation for a research area on industrial services for both, academics and industrial researchers. In addition, we will identify future areas of interest in the domain to encourage researchers to advance the field. We hope that the paper triggers fruitful discussions about its subject and increases awareness about specific characteristics of industrial services which have so far not been taken up by the research community