A classification of service facilities, servicescapes and service factories

Facilities of manufacturing have an explicit role, whereas service facilities are less explicit in their definitions, due to greater range of facilities and the multiple roles attached to them. This paper provides a review of service literature focusing on service facilities, and analysing the different views on them, such as facilities as servicescapes, service factories, complex systems or customer interfaces. Each of these views is analysed separately and four main dimensions of services facilities are identified. A classification framework is proposed catching the essential dimensions of the wide range of service facilities. The use of the framework is illustrated with examples. Finally, the results are discussed and further research areas proposed.