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Process innovation plays a vital role in the manufacture realization of increasingly complex new products, especially in the context of sustainable development and cleaner production. Knowledge-based innovation design can inspire designers' creative thinking; however, the existing scattered knowledge has not yet been properly captured and organized according to Computer-Aided Process Innovation (CAPI). Therefore, this paper proposes an integrated approach to tackle this non-trivial issue. By analyzing the design process of CAPI and technical features of open innovation, a novel holistic paradigm of process innovation knowledge capture based on collective intelligence (PIKC-CI) is constructed from the perspective of the knowledge life cycle. Then, a multi-source innovation knowledge fusion algorithm based on semantic elements reconfiguration is applied to form new public knowledge. To ensure the credibility and orderliness of innovation knowledge refinement, a collaborative editing strategy based on knowledge lock and knowledge-social trust degree is explored. Finally, a knowledge management system MPI-OKCS integrating the proposed techniques is implemented into the pre-built CAPI general platform, and a welding process innovation example is provided to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. It is expected that our work would lay the foundation for the future knowledge-inspired CAPI and smart process planning.

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Process innovation can create new manufacturing technology or improve existing manufacturing technology by using a large number of process innovation knowledge. Hence, how to effectively organize process innovation knowledge and leverage it into practical application is crucial to process innovation from the holistic viewpoint. As of now there is a lack of a reasonable knowledge management framework and application mode for process innovation. To change this situation, a novel management framework of process innovation knowledge is proposed, according to the characteristics of process innovation and the role of knowledge in manufacturing problem-solving. Process innovation knowledge is composed of method knowledge and data knowledge so as to achieve knowledge’s rational application in the whole process of innovation. In this framework, four core knowledge activities are involved: knowledge acquisition, knowledge organization, knowledge application and knowledge accumulation. And a knowledge accumulating closed-loop containing new process knowledge could facilitate the implementation of subsequent process innovation. Finally, an application instance of welding process innovation is shown to illustrate the applicability of the proposed framework and the application processes of process innovation.