Lifecycle Knowledge (and information) Management

Thursday, 16 June 2011

Dr.ir. Wilfred van der Vegte (1st part)

Dr. ir. Regine Vroom (2nd part)

formalknowledge

implicit or tacitknowledge

informal knowledge

explicitinformal

knowledge

programmedinstructionfor a machine

textualdescriptionin a book

a person’s skillsin accomplishing

a task

examples

processablereproducible,recordable

not directly recordable,let alone processable

explicit knowledge

characteristics

Recap from ADS: types of knowledgeBUT: Formal knowledge and explicit knowledge aren’t synonyms;

Implicit knowledge and informal knowledge aren’t synonyms.There is knowledge that is explicit but not formal

??

Q: Can you explain why formal knowledge is not contrary to informal knowledge, but rather a vague overlap between them exists. How can you clearly explain the difference?

formalknowledge

implicitor tacit

knowledge

explicitinformal

knowledge

store

make explicit

use by machines

use by people

macro-level KM

micro-level KM

formalizeconvert

Recap from ADS: general knowledge flows & types of KM

Macro-level issues

Macro-KM is typically dealt with by the company management and management-supporting staff (HRM)Two issues:

• Management of KM tasks allocated to humans:“managing knowledge by managing people”

• Allocation of tasks between humans and ICT systems

Management of KM tasks allocated to humans: stimulate knowledge flows

www.eepulse.com/documents/pdfs/workforce_management-4-26-06.pdf

• Generation of new knowledge: incentives for innovation & creativity, recruit creative people, ...

• Capturing existing knowledge: courses, lectures, company library, ...

• Knowledge storage: if it has to be in people’s minds, strive for redundancy; nourish human capital, ...

• Knowledge distribution: colloquia, job rotation, ...• Knowledge use: right people for the right job, ...• Make profit from company knowledge: patents, ...

Q: The importance of the IKM is made clear in the text, but how should we imagine this topic in real companies? Do big companies have an IKM-department like e.g. Human Resources? Are there people working on the implementation of IKM-systems as a full time job or is it part of the company culture which means no special people are in charge of IKM

Allocation of tasks between humans and IT systems

• Both humans and machines have their specific strong points and weak points ® MABA-MABA

• If the computer is best for a given task according to MABA-MABA, it does not mean that computer support (e.g. software that performs the task) is actually available

• Important motivation to put knowledge into computers isthe risk of being too dependent of the availability of people. Example: ‘design history’

• Downside of computer systems: hardware & software can become obsolete

PLM – Product Lifecycle Management

What is it? According to cimdata.com• A strategic business approach that applies a consistent

set of business solutions that support the collaborative creation, management, dissemination, and use of product definition information

• Supporting the extended enterprise (customers, design and supply partners, etc.)

• Spanning from concept to end of life of a product or plant

• Integrating people, processes, business systems, and information

formal explicit computer storage: PDM system

designer manufacturing & assembly

store

store

knowledge flow

How it started: PDM – Product Data Management

paper or informalexplicit computer storage

part manufacturing

product assembly

packaging

distribution

retail

use

service

repair

end-of-life

designer other stakeholders

knowledge flow

Life-cycle knowledge flows

formal explicit computer storage

PLM system

part manufacturing

product assembly

packaging

distribution

retail

use

service

repair

end-of-life

designer other stakeholders

store

store

collection &preparation by• stakeholder• expert• ICT

collection &preparation by

• designer• expert

• ICT

store

knowledge flow

Life-cycle knowledge flows

paper or informalexplicit computer storage

Life-cycle knowledge flows

collection ofknowledge

noneby expert

(knowledgeauthor)

*KBS: knowledge-based system

by ICT(automated)

preparationof knowledge

for processing

formal(database

orKBS*)

formal(typically

datamining)

noneby

stakeholder/designer

by expert(knowledge

author)

by ICT(automated)

explicitinformal(paper,video,

audio recording)

type ofstored knowledge

PLM

=PDM

Most advanced conventional PLM systems

none

*KBS: knowledge-based system

by ICT(automated)

formal(typically

datamining)

noneby ICT

(automated)

explicitinformal(paper,video,

audio recording)

by expert(knowledge

author)

formal(database

orKBS*)

bystakeholder/designer

by expert(knowledge

author)

PLM

collection ofknowledge

preparationof knowledge

for processing

type ofstored knowledge

• aerospace• shipbuilding• civil engineering

(life cycle of a bridge)

• construction• large-scale printers

(Océ!)• ... i.e., industries

with limited # of stakeholders, small production volumes,not consumer products

Requires tightly controlled processes throughout the lifecycle.Where is that possible?

For most consumer products, this type of

Q (part): What kind of products is PLM currently used for?

formal explicit computer storage

PLM system

part manufacturing

product assembly

packaging

distribution

retail

use

service

repair

end-of-life

designer other stakeholders

store

store

collection &preparation by• stakeholder• expert• ICT

collection &preparation by

• designer• expert

• ICT

store

knowledge flow

Life-cycle knowledge flows

paper or informalexplicit computer storage

Examples of lifecycle knowledge flows• Designer to part manufacturing, no storage:

Designer explains details of technical drawing to the mould maker over the telephone

• Designer to part manufacturing, storage on paper prepared by designer (explicit informal):Technical drawing

• Designer to part manufacturing, storage in computer by designer prepared by ICT (formalized):CAD model for NC milling

• Designer to user, storage on paper prepared by experts (explicit informal):User manual

• Designer to recycler, collection & preparation by designer/manufacturer, storage on product (text/graphics)(explicit informal)Material codes on products

Examples of lifecycle knowledge flows

• Designer to user or repairperson,storage in computer by experts (formalized):Knowledge-based car diagnostics system

(http://www.metacog.com/example2.htm)

Examples of lifecycle knowledge flows

• Part manufacturing todesigner, no storage:Mould maker calls designer to report a tight tolerance on the drawing that cannot be realized

• Part manufacturing to designer, collection & preparation byexperts, storage on paper(explicit informal):Handbook with dimensioning guidelines for variousmanufacturing processes

• Part manufacturing to designer, collection & preparation by experts, storage on computer (formalized): DFM software (dfmpro.geometricglobal.com)

Examples of lifecycle knowledge flows

• User to designer, collection & preparation by user, storage on computer (explicit informal):User posts a product review to a website

• Designer to designer, collection & preparation by designer, storage on computer (explicit informal):Design rationale capture software (process-based approach)

• Designer to designer, collection & preparation by expert, storage on computer (formalized):Design rationale capture software (feature-based approach)

Designer: Pipes A and B must be connected at an angle System: You need a knee pipe to connect them. Specify angle. Designer: angle = 45º System connects pipes in CAD system with 45º knee pipe

and records as rationale: A and B had to be connected at a 45º angle

Examples of lifecycle knowledge flows

• Any stakeholder to designer, collection by ICT, preparation by experts, storage in computer (formalized)closed-loop product lifecycle management based on product-embedded information devices (Kiritsis, 2009)

The holy grail of lifecycle knowledge management?

• Any stakeholder to designer, collection by ICT, preparation by experts, storage in computer (formalized)closed-loop product lifecycle management based on product-embedded information devices (Kiritsis, 2009)

We can go further...• Any stakeholder to designer, collection and preparation

by ICT, storage in computer (formalized)closed-loop product lifecycle management based on product-embedded information devices and data mining of collected information

• Any stakeholder (including designer) to any stakeholder, col- lection & preparation by ICT, storage in computer (formalized)

Q (part): What will be the future role of IKM in (sustainable) design engineering in relation to ubiquitous computing?Application opportunity for consumer products: controlled flow of supplies (coffee pads, printer cartridges, batteries, etc.)

Other questions

• When does PLM become profitable (market / product batch size)? Are there cheap solutions for small market sizes?

Other questions

• The (...) KBE tools seem to be very engineering/technical based, and give direction to decisions in for example material, dimensions etc. However, in product design, the user aspects are important as well, not only the technical features. Are there also knowledge based tools available which deal with features like colour, user experience, use cues etc.

• Reading material: last part of 8.1• Aesthetics-related search engines based on data

mining:– Princeton 3D shape search based on data mining:

(http://shape.cs.princeton.edu/search.html invisible link)– Similarity-based search engines for images:

(http://www.searchenginejournal.com/7-similarity-based-image-search-engines/8265/ invisble link)– Font recognition search engine:

(http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ invisible link)

Other questions

• Would IKM tools enable product designers to regard sustainable solutions more easily, or that a data base can be used to offer the best sustainable options?

• Most computer programs supporting design for sustainability and LCA are actually knowledge-based systems

Other questions

• The paper on KMS presents a very good overview on information and knowledge management in product design, also from an industrial design perspective. Would it be possible to also show / discuss more such interesting tools during the lecture which can be useful to the students?

Other questions

• What phases of the product life cycle are the hardest to collect information from?

• Especially the use phase, in particular the details (interaction, manipulation, user decisions, ...)

Other questions

• How do you decide as a company whether or not to publish (share?) your research (and development?) data? A lot can be gained from open-source information sharing, but the company also loses its IP.

Depends on lots of things:• Other closely linked IP that you can protect?• Can you generate income from additional sources (e.g.,

advertisements)?• Can you share it in an incomplete way, for instance only

the end results without sharing the details on which these were based, or only the details?

• ....