Andy Neely

And then you'll flick over a page and it says, "Would you like to connect your device to the internet?" And then go, "Why does my dishwasher need to be connected to the internet?" The producer can monitor how you're using it, partly to improve future products, but also send you messages going, "Ooh, you might wanna change this bit here," or, "I think you're due for a service there."

Now, so far, this may all be quite familiar, but one of Tim's colleagues at the Institute for Manufacturing, Professor Andy Neely, told me that as this business model gets more sophisticated, it causes companies to completely rethink how they work with their customers.

There's a concept called the services staircase, which is really increasing maturity or sophistication of the services.

So if you imagine at the ground floor, the basic level, you're just providing the product.

'Cause they don't sell jet engines.

What they actually sell is thrust.

[jet engine roaring] Now, here's Professor Andy Neely from the Institute of Manufacturing.

If you think about an airline, what the airline wants is the ability to move a plane from location A to location B, and the engine provides that thrust.