Chair for Industrial Sales and Service Engineering

What Chair for Industrial Sales and Service Engineering does

The Chair for Industrial Sales and Service Engineering (ISSE) is an academic research and teaching unit within the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, a public German university. Established in 2003 and led since August 2017 by Prof. Dr. Jens Pöppelbuß (with Prof. Dr. Joachim Zülch as Senior Professor since 2021), the chair operates at the intersection of mechanical engineering and business management. Its mission centers on industrial sales, service engineering, digital transformation, servitization, and AI adoption in B2B contexts. The chair serves industrial B2B organizations undergoing digital transformation, mechanical engineering and plant manufacturing firms pursuing servitization strategies, industrial SMEs developing new value propositions, students enrolled in academic programs, and industry partners collaborating on funded research initiatives.

The chair's core offerings include the Sales Engineering and Product Management (SEPM) degree program — described as unique in Germany and celebrating its 20th anniversary in October 2023 — plus proprietary research methodologies such as Design Thinking for Industrial Services (DETHIS), the KIbox AI teaching module, AI maturity models for B2B sales, and business model simulation tools using System Dynamics. Active research projects include CircuPEM (circular economy for PEM electrolysis), PersonA (privacy-compliant assistance systems), SerWiss (service knowledge for SMEs), D-AI-Y, GenAI4Maintenance (LLM-based maintenance assistants), HUMAINE (human-centered AI), ThinkCircular, WaVe, YouLead, Pluto, and ToGethA. The team has produced 138 peer-reviewed publications and won Best Paper awards at the CCBC conference and the SERVSIG conference in 2022.

The business model is institutional rather than commercial. Funding flows from public university allocations by the German federal and state governments and competitive third-party research grants from BMBF, EU/EFRE, and the European Social Fund. There are no commercial product sales; tuition is regulated by German state law. Distribution occurs through student recruitment, an active 20-year alumni network (200+ participants at the 2023 jubilee, 66+ Kamingespräch career-dialogue events), academic conferences, and an extensive partnership portfolio spanning Heraeus Precious Metals, Direct Matter, Fraunhofer UMSICHT, Heinz Nixdorf Institut, thyssenkrupp Aerospace, Melitta, Kemper GmbH, WS System GmbH, and international collaborators including University of Jyväskylä, Tongji University Shanghai, and University of Malmö.

Name

Chair for Industrial Sales and Service Engineering

Legal name

Lehrstuhl für Industrial Sales and Service Engineering - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Website

https://isse.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Academic chair at Ruhr-Universität Bochum conducting research and teaching on industrial sales, service engineering, and digital transformation. Serves industrial B2B companies and students via the SEPM program, proprietary methodologies, and BMBF/EU-funded research projects.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Research and Education in Industrial Sales and Service Engineering

NAICS

Business and Secretarial Schools (611410), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAHAHAE

Marketing, Sales & Brand Management Schools

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Business Schools & Management Institutes

Keywords

• Industrial sales engineering
• Service engineering research
• B2B sales education
• Digital sales transformation
• Industrial servitization research

Headquarters

HQ city

Bochum

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Public University Funding: Core funding from the German federal and state government through Ruhr-Universität Bochum as a public university chair.
2. Third-Party Research Funding: Substantial third-party funding from national and European funding bodies (BMBF, EU/EFRE, European Social Fund) supporting specific research projects such as CircuPEM, PersonA, SerWiss, YouLead, Pluto, ToGethA, D-AI-Y, GenAI4Maintenance, HUMAINE, and others.
3. Teaching and Student Supervision: Revenue from tuition-free public university education supplemented by module fees for specialized programs and continuing education offerings.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Core offering

The chair operates as an academic department delivering the Sales Engineering and Product Management (SEPM) degree program, doctoral and postdoctoral research supervision, and applied research on the digital transformation of industrial B2B sales, service engineering, and AI/circular-economy business models. Its sellable units are degree education, structured thesis supervision, and funded research project outputs delivered to industry and public funding bodies. It does not sell commercial software or services.

Product overview

The Chair for Industrial Sales and Service Engineering (ISSE) at Ruhr-Universität Bochum operates as an academic research and teaching unit rather than a commercial product company. Its core offering is the Sales Engineering and Product Management (SEPM) degree program, which is unique in Germany. Supporting educational products include the KIbox teaching module for AI-driven sustainability innovation and the Ruhr School of Design Thinking cross-university program. The chair conducts research projects (CircuPEM, D-AI-Y, GenAI4Maintenance, HUMAINE, WaVe) and organizes recurring events like the SEPM Kamingespräch networking series. Research outputs and student theses form the primary deliverables.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SEPM (Sales Engineering and Product Management): The study program associated with the chair, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023
• KIbox
• CircuPEM
• SerWiss
• PersonA
• HUMAINE
• Ruhr School of Design Thinking

Products and services

• Sales Engineering and Product Management (SEPM) Degree Program Interdisciplinary B.Sc./M.Sc. degree program at Ruhr-Universität Bochum combining mechanical engineering, business management, and psychology to prepare students for technical sales careers; unique in Germany.
• KIbox (Künstliche Intelligenz Box) Teaching Module Teaching module where students develop sustainability solutions using AI; based on kickbox methodology with a design-thinking approach and per-idea prototyping budget.
• Abschlussarbeiten (Thesis Topics) Supervision Service Structured Bachelor and Master thesis supervision service at the chair, with regularly published themed topic groups, startup seminar, and scientific writing support for students.
• Ruhr School of Design Thinking Program Interdisciplinary Design Thinking program across RUB, TU Dortmund, and UDE connecting students with companies through real challenge-based projects and mentoring; Prof. Pöppelbuß serves as mentor and team members facilitate Pitch Days.
• Data Science Teaching Module Winter semester 2022/2023 teaching module at the chair focusing on data science applications for industrial sales and service.
• International Block Course: Quality 4.0 & Leadership International block course in Zagreb covering Quality 4.0 methods, leadership in digital transformation, and customer-oriented innovation; participants earn 5 ECTS credits.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5 doctoral completions in 2023 alone (Martin Ebel, Marleen Voß, Chris Gernreich, Robin Merchel, Mark Hoebertz); additional doctorates in 2024 (Christoph Ksouri-Gerwien, Lisa Nestler) and 2025 (Charlotte Knickrehm, Marie-Christin Barton, Taskeen Iqbal, Heiko Fischer)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Heraeus Precious MetalscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2026Partner in the CircuPEM (Circular Economy for PEM Electrolysis) research project. Heraeus Precious Metals is involved in developing circular value creation systems for PEM electrolysis, focusing on recovery of critical raw materials like iridium, platinum, and titanium.
• Direct MattercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2026Partner in CircuPEM project contributing to the development of innovative production and reuse concepts for industrial PEM electrolysis.
• Heinz Nixdorf Institut, University of PaderborncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2026Academic partner in CircuPEM research project, providing expertise in industrial engineering and systems integration.
• Fraunhofer UMSICHTcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2026Research partner in CircuPEM project contributing applied research expertise in sustainable technologies and circular economy approaches for industrial electrolysis.
• Digital Engineering (Partner Chair)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2026Partner chair at RUB in the CircuPEM project, providing expertise in digital engineering for circular product-service systems.
• University of MalmöcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 September 2024Partner university within the UNIC network of European universities. ISSE team visited Malmö for research exchange and to strengthen cooperation within the UNIC alliance.
• Tongji University Shanghai (CDZM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 September 2023Long-standing partnership through the German-Chinese Centre for Mechanical Engineering (CDZM) at Tongji University. Jointly organizes the German-Chinese Summer School in Mechanical Engineering.
• SerWiss Consortium (BMBF/ESF-funded)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 February 2023Multi-partner research project (now completed) developing an integrated approach for SMEs in plant and mechanical engineering to efficiently generate, structure, and internationally market service knowledge. Led by HTWG Konstanz with ISSE as a key partner.
• Kemper GmbHminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 August 2022Pilot company in the BMBF/ESF-funded PersonA project, testing and iteratively developing privacy-compliant personalized assistance systems for production and service.
• WS System GmbHminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 August 2022Pilot company in the PersonA project, collaborating on the development and testing of personalized assistance systems.
• University of Jyväskylä (Finland)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2022Joint survey research on service modularization with the research group Value Creation for Cyber-Physical Systems and Services. Prof. Dr. Tuure Tuunanen serves as the Finnish lead contact.
• Ruhr School of Design Thinking (RUB, TU Dortmund, UDE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-university consortium for Design Thinking education and practice, fostering innovation culture in the Ruhr region. Prof. Pöppelbuß serves as a mentor in the program. Martin Ebel and Marie-Christin Barton serve as moderators at Pitch Days.
• HUMAINE Network e.V.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInterdisciplinary network focused on human-centered AI integration in work processes. ISSE is a founding/organizing member, hosting the HUMAINE Absolventenmesse career fair.
• Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Luis Barrantes is active in VDI expert committees on technical sales. The chair collaborates with VDI on events, standards, and professional development for sales engineers.
• Academic Association of Sales Engineering (AASE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean network of professors in sales engineering programs. Dr. Luis Barrantes is the initiator of the AASE academic association, connecting university chairs across Europe.
• SimPlan Integrations GmbHminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoman Adamovskyy worked as a simulation consultant at SimPlan before joining ISSE, contributing expertise in simulation-based business model development.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ISSERUB
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/issebochum
• Instagraminstagram.com/isse.bochum

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Chair for Industrial Sales and Service Engineering