Describes the practical application, in an industrial setting, of an information system designed to support continuous improvements. This system, based on a quality monitoring system, differs from conventional application in that it seeks to support both quality conformance and continuous improvements to design and research activities. Such activities traditionally fall outside the quality management function, but are encompassed within knowledge management goals and techniques, which are used in this research to construct a system framework. The integration of information into functional areas previously unlinked to manufacturing issues is illustrated as the major obstacle which had to be overcome. The implications for management practices are subsequently described. Concludes that knowledge management principles can support a wider application of continuous improvement to obtain benefits for the organisation, by providing higher quality information, and increasing the levels of organisational expertise which can be applied to it.

Knowledge management is a rapidly growing, and rapidly changing discipline. While the link between knowledge assets and competitive advantage has been accepted for some time, it is not obvious how this translates into the techniques and software tools that are labelled as knowledge management processes. This article details the strategic requirements linking the conceptual “mission” of knowledge management with the processes that serve it.

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