This paper describes the implementation of a wiki system based on the wiki engine MediaWiki for the purpose of engineering knowledge capture and sharing in an internal RD 1. Knowledge creation that is based on a socialization process that mainly creates tacit knowledge distributed across individuals; 2. Knowledge transfer that is based on reuse of tacit knowledge by physical transferral of knowledge holders; and 3. Knowledge application which entails a core team of individuals applying their collective knowledge base to solve a given problem. It is found that a wiki system’s features of collaborative and web based input make it possible to support all three of the processes by making the tacit knowledge base explicit. It is concluded however that the implementation of a wiki also needs: 1. A structure that reflects the business processes in the unit; 2. A clear definition of knowledge as a deliverable in the processes; 3. A model for how the time spent on contributing to the wiki is financed; and 4. A strategy for tackling corporate IT governance policies’ inability to manage interactive Web 2.0 technologies.

This paper draws an analogy between product development and PLM development in order to address issues which have been observed in PLM development projects in two different automotive companies. In particular it applies ideas from the methodologies of VDI2221 and systems engineering to address issues in requirements management, functional design, top-down vs. bottom-up thinking and outsourcing. The main findings include that PLM development needs a higher level of “process as the customer” focus in order to manage the requirements. Related to these are also proposals regarding the funding and organization setup which need to reflect the customer focus. Other findings include a possibility to apply ideas from VDI2221 and systems engineering to increase architectural considerations and focus on functions rather than solutions when developing PLM. Regarding the issue of supplier management the authors propose the use of Technology Readiness Level to assess the maturity of PLM solutions before they are implemented. It is concluded that methods and models from product development can be used in PLM development and their application should also facilitate the communication between PLM developers and product developers.

In this paper a new method incorporating flexible collection of process information along with an intuitive manner of presenting the processes along with the process information is presented and compared to a standard DSM process chart. A prototype tool implementing the proposed method is also presented. A bio-medical process is mapped using interviews and available documentation from Nobel Biocare as the main method to collect process information. The complete model is documented applying a DSM tool. The proposed interactive process modeling (IPM) method has been developed in parallel with the mapped process, along with a prototype process documentation tool, to map the same process and compare the two mapping cases. The studied process contains 101 process activities that have been mapped and described using the two methods (DSM and the new interactive process mapping (IPM)). It has been found that the IPM method enables a more complete approach to process improvement since it can be applied and updated easier because of features such as: version control, higher level of user interactivity, alternative representations of process properties using links between information objects, IT-resources and organizational roles within the process chart. A flexible approach using the IPM method ensures rich and easily accessible process information that is easier to interpret, communicate and maintain over time than the standard DSM model.

Globalization has made a large impact on product development, especially in mature businesses such as the automotive and aerospace industries. As product and manufacturing technologies become more common and widespread, the competitive advantage for many companies shifts to knowledge about using those technologies. This knowledge is based on many years of experience and relates both to the product design and to the process for designing and manufacturing the product. Engineering knowledge thus is an asset that needs to be captured, stored and managed, which provides strategic long-term benefits. In parallel, IT tools for storing and executing different kinds of knowledge, such as expert systems for diagnosis or rule-based systems for mechanical design, have been developed and are more usable and accessible today. In the field of engineering, rule-based applications are available in many IT tools for computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE) and so on. The term knowledge-based engineering (KBE) was coined in the mid-1980s as a label for the CAD-integrated applications for designing rule-based geometries. There is no widely accepted definition of the term. In this thesis KBE embraces the capture and reuse of engineering knowledge in general, regardless of domain of application. The focus of this thesis is on how KBE, both as an IT application and as a method, is integrated with the product development process. The focus has been on integration of KBE with product lifecycle management (PLM) which embraces methods and IT tools for managing product and process information throughout a product’s lifecycle. KBE should be an integral part of PLM in the same way as CAD, CAE, PDM and so on. The thesis considers architectural issues in order to investigate which conceptual solutions for the PLM architecture are the most suitable for integrating KBE and PLM. It is concluded that a service-oriented PLM architecture is the most promising integration concept, not only from an IT perspective to integrate KBE with CAD, CAE, PDM and so on, but also from a process perspective to ensure optimal support for the way engineering knowledge can be captured and reused in the product development process. The service-oriented architecture is based on standardized interfaces which support the exchange of data across applications, and modularization which supports increased reuse of solutions. From an implementation point of view, it makes it possible to create KBE applications of any size, without the need to duplicate information that already exists somewhere else – thus decreasing the implementation costs. The ability to create KBE applications at a low cost raises the potential to integrate KBE with the product development process, since engineers can create their own small applications without having to organize large IT projects. Two other PLM architectures, single-source architecture and a peer-to-peer architecture, have been studied and both entail disadvantages, not only for the integration of KBE but also for management of IT. The main drawback of the single-source architecture is related to its implementation, as a “one application fits all engineers” mindset is impossible to implement in practice. In the peer-to-peer architecture every new IT implementation brings about large costs and requires many resources, which affects the possibility to support the idea of each engineer making a small KBE application that adds to a bigger whole.

This paper makes a review of the current standards and practices regarding, PLM architecture and modelling languages for information and system modelling. As well as it makes a short review of the trends in automotive and aerospace PLM applications in industry. It is concluded that enterprise and PLM modelling can be and is being performed in industry at different abstraction levels. A more uniform and integrated approach towards modelling of both IT and processes is believed to be beneficial from several viewpoints, not least in order to better govern and manage the IT and process integration and architecture over time, in an ever changing business context.

The aim of the study is to implement a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and evaluate its applicability to an industrial case, using PLM services 2.0. This paper focuses on IT support for engineering change management (ECM). ECM is a cross-functional process including several technology fields and life cycle stages. The product information is accessible from a service layer where it is either used directly by the user or provided as input to knowledge-based engineering (KBE) applications which simulate and analyse the impact of an engineering change. It is concluded that SOA is an efficient architecture that enables integration of KBE applications. PLM services 2.0 is a competent new standard that needs improvements regarding documentation and more detail. In general, it can be concluded that it is necessary to invest more in data management and support capabilities, and that SOA contributes to taking better control of the business logic in comparison with other PLM architectures.

This paper regards the implementation of a service oriented PLM architecture in the automotive industry. To test this, a demonstrator that implements the standard PLM services 2.0 has been developed. The demonstrator supports the change management process of a diesel engine and accesses information from distributed databases across organizations and technology domains. Findings regard issues related to the benefits and limitations of the standard as well as implications of a service oriented PLM architecture experienced from business and user perspectives. In order to manage a shift towards SOA it is also needed to invest in PLM management and support capabilities. SOA contributes to take better control of the business logic, than competing PLM architectures as well as it offers good engineering support.

An increased competition on the product development market pushes the industry to continually improve product quality and reduce product cost. There is also a trend towards considering a products life cycle aspects including environmental sustainability. The manufacturing process is a major cost driver in the product life cycle; hence, there are many initiatives to improve manufacturability and reduce production cost. Learning from earlier projects is essential to avoid recurrence of problems and is generally realized through use of concurrent engineering and design for manufacturing (DFM). Other research provides general DFM principles which state detailed guidelines for how different geometries combined with different manufacturing processes affect component quality and cost. The real competitive edge lies however in the development and application of company specific DFM principles that are based on manufacturing experiences. To do so requires an overview of and access to the collected manufacturing experiences. The aim of this paper is to point out key enablers for efficient reuse of manufacturing experience, which is considered to contribute to lower product cost and higher product quality. A study performed at an automotive and at an aerospace engine manufacturer pointed out the apparent need and lack of reuse of manufacturing experiences in product development. Applications supporting reuse of manufacturing experience through embedded DFM knowledge in designer’s CAD system were found in the literature. The issue of integrating these applications with the enterprise environment, in order to capitalize on existing sources of manufacturing experience, is addressed with a proposed solution applying a service oriented PLM architecture. In addition, a graphical user interface visualizing the manufacturing experience in a combined product and process context was developed. The validation of these proposed and developed solutions was done through interviews and workshops. The conclusions are that visualization of manufacturing experiences in a combined product and process context provides improved understanding of how the experiences relate to each process history and that a key enabler for integration of information in heterogeneous environments is the use of standard service oriented architectures and neutral formats.

In this paper the issue of integrating knowledge based engineering (KBE) and product lifecycle management (PLM) is addressed at an architectural level. State of the practice and state of the art KBE applications in the literature and in industrial use constituted the empirical base for a categorization of such applications. Two categorizations are presented; one where applications are viewed from the perspective of desired result and one which relates the KBE application to the task it performs and the tool it performs it with. A service oriented PLM architecture has been found to be promising for integrating KBE and PLM. PLM services, whose main role is to retrieve and store data needed or generated by the KBE application, constitute the integration pattern. The KBE applications, which apply PLM services, are in their turn offered as services provided through the PLM environment. Based on these KBE services, a concept called knowledge modules is introduced. The aim of knowledge modules is to map and integrate KBE applications to support or automate engineering activities which today are performed as services between engineering departments such as e.g. complete design verifications or complete configurations.