Knowledge management in the life cycle of products

Knowledge management (KM) is a strategic issue and has as its mission to support management's effort in developing a more competitive company, applying the resource based view. Furthermore, KM is an organizational issue as it is aiding in the effort to provide a leaner and more effective organization. Finally, KM is about productivity and the application of computers and computational intelligence in the production of goods and services. Concerned with the company's drive for improvement, innovation and the creation of new knowledge, a holistic KM approach combines these three domains. Poorly managed knowledge costs the companies around the world billions of dollars. Knowledge can be developed, disseminated, shared, learned, stored and retrieved; likewise it can also be managed. Computers, and the application of computational intelligence, can improve profitability if applied together with the restructuring of companies' structures, their business and production processes, and organizational changes. We demonstrate in This work the need for a holistic approach to the KM view for companies in the manufacturing industry planning to create competitive advantage for itself.