Concurrent engineering Knowledge Management architecture

The present paper documents the development and application of a Knowledge Management (KM) architecture and tool, customized to the specific needs within the Concurrent Engineering (CE) scenario. The paper gives an overview and update on the recent development work, executed for ESA's Concurrent Design Facility (CDF). Here, a tailored KM system for the specific needs of the CE design process has been created. An in-depth investigation of the KM awareness within the CE-environment and its participants marked the beginning of the research. The developed KM architecture is divided into four major sections: Capture, Organization, Distribution and Development of knowledge. Every section has several interface modules that are interacting with each other. In addition to these, the concept of a Knowledge Unit (KU) is introduced, where its different contents (e.g. documents, trade-off tables, mass summaries) are stored and linked with so-called metadata, which gives additional information. During a CE-session, engineers do not have the possibility to review extensive report-libraries regarding their relevant subsystem. Therefore, accessing knowledge needs to be straightforward. The challenging task to transfer tacit knowledge elements of CE studies, which are usually created during Round-Tables or Splinter-Meetings, requires new approaches in soft- and hardware support. The developed prototype software platform SPOCK (Software Platform for Organizing & Capturing Knowledge) helps to facilitate all aspects of capturing and distributing knowledge within the Concurrent Engineering environment.