A Knowledge-Based Approach for Integration of System Design Methodology and Documentation in Advanced Multi-Disciplinary NPD Projects

Abstract

New product development (NPD) performance depends both on developing new knowledge as well as on leveraging existent knowledge inside an organization. In project-based NPD execution knowledge is often created without a clear reuse strategy and subsequently misplaced by storing it in project-related, disjointed knowledge repositories. Thus, valuable information is most likely not utilized and has limited value for organizational learning. One possible countermeasure is to establish a strategic, dynamic knowledge standard that spans all of an organization’s projects and enables reuse of valuable knowledge with being simultaneously flexible to novelty and product evolution. The goal of this work has been to investigate the deployment of strategies, tools and methodologies to capture, structure, and utilize valuable product engineering knowledge in order to establish a framework for implementing a strategic, knowledge-based approach, which can contribute to establish a dynamic knowledge standard. The research has been conducted in several learning cycles through a combination of literature reviews and case studies. The literature reviews, considering the fields of engineering design, systems engineering, lean product development, and knowledge management were directed towards theories, tools, methodologies, and processes that address knowledge-related engineering and management aspects. The case studies have been conducted in product engineering companies an industrial product engineering environment. All case companies develop knowledge-intensive, high-technology products in multi-disciplinary teams with project-based NPD execution. Overall, the work has several outcomes. The first outcome is an exploration of the current knowledge transformation practices in the case companies, which revealed the needs for an engineering-driven framework for knowledge-based product development. Further, a product mapping methodology for evaluating the disjointed product portfolio is explored, providing a practical, qualitative way of transforming fragmented product variant information into visual overviews. The third outcome is an investigation of the role of A3-reports as potential documentation tool, discovering that A3-reports can contribute positively to reuse of company-internal documentation. Finally, a strategy to develop a structural knowledge standard, based on a modular architecture and a strategy to develop a declarative knowledge standard based on A3-reports and causal diagrams are investigated. Although this work has substantially increased the body of knowledge towards the development of a dynamic knowledge standard, further research is required for implementation, including the establishment of an integrated (structural and declarative) dynamic knowledge standard as well as exploring adequate routines for product evolution.