Methodology and system framework for knowledge management in allied concurrent engineering

Engineering processes are recognized as one of the most knowledge-intensive business processes. Allied concurrent engineering is a distributed and collaborative engineering process, in which individuals from different disciplines and enterprises cooperate to design a product and to develop related processes through remote coordination, communication and control. The key to the success of allied concurrent engineering is believed to be full understanding and effective sharing of product and process knowledge throughout the development cycle. This study presents a systematic approach to developing a methodology and a system framework for knowledge management to support allied concurrent engineering. The approach presented in this study comprises four phases: (1) allied concurrent engineering characterization, (2) knowledge identification, analysis and modelling, (3) KM strategy and methodology development, and (4) system development. The methodology consists of a rationale behind the methodology, a life cycle model for knowledge management, and a distributed knowledge management framework. The proposed methodology serves as a basis for designing a knowledge management system framework using component technology. Besides providing knowledge management and sharing functions, the system meets the hierarchical, distributed, flexible and dynamic-configurable characteristics of allied concurrent engineering.