Knowledge-based support of rapid product development

Abstract

The benefits of Rapid Prototyping technologies can be applied efficiently only when they are embedded in an entire product development process. Rapid Product Development (RPD)-an iterative process involving manufacturing and evaluation of rapid prototypes-is mostly characterized by decentralized design teams cooperating on a high degree of process parallelism. In practice, RPD processes often lack mechanisms to combine design results of different designers, and, therefore, information management and the integration of interdisciplinary knowledge are some of the most central problems in the RPD process. An approach for supporting the entire RPD process consists of providing designers with a common knowledge base that represents all information relevant in RPD. Such a knowledge base helps to establish a common understanding and support the communication and cooperation of design teams. A requirement analysis of engineering databases shows that conventional database concepts do not support the required functionality of this application domain sufficiently. Here, advanced database features, such as an advanced transaction concept or active modelling primitives representing the semantics of product data, are needed. This paper presents a knowledge database called the Active Semantic Network. The Active Semantic Network has been developed to face the special tasks of designers working in RPD processes.

Using Prototypes to Induce Experimentation and Knowledge Integration in the Development of Enabling Accounting Information*

“…User participation implies that accountants and nonaccountants work together and combine their knowledge in developing enabling PMS. Knowledge integration refers to the ability of organizations to build practices that draw on diverse bases of expertise and has been identified as a key organizational capability in various fields such as strategic management (Eisenhardt and Martin 2000), new product development (NPD; D’Adderio 2001; Leenders and Wierenga 2002; Roller, Eck, and Dalakakis 2004), information systems development (Mitchell 2006; Levina and Vaast 2005; Patnayakuni, Rai, and Tiwana 2007), and accounting (Anderson 1995). However, knowledge integration involving accountants and nonaccountants is particularly challenging (Anderson 1995; Chapman 1998; Chenhall and Langfield‐Smith 1998; Emsley 2005; Fry, Steele, and Saladin 1995; Sillince and Sykes 1995).…”

Antecedents and consequences of knowledge sharing for software process improvement in the Indian software industry

“…An approach for supporting collaboration to improve the software process consists of providing developers with a shared knowledge base. This facilitates shared understanding and enriches the communication systems and cooperation of development teams 91 . Software development organizations, such as TCS 92 and Infosys, 93 have been using knowledge repositories since the inception of the 21st century to strengthen environment and configuration management, project tracking, contract tracking and document control.…”

Assessing the product architecture decision about product features – a real options approach

“…Hence, input from several functional areas should be brought together. Knowledge integration refers to the ability of organizations to build organizational practices that draw on diverse bases of expertise, and it has been identified as a key organizational capability in new product development (D'Adderio, ; Leenders and Wierenga, ; Roller et al., ). Third, it should lead to insights into the financial effects of product architecture decisions for a company. This is important in a business context where decision‐makers need to communicate with senior management who will be less involved in the operational details and trade‐offs and view product architecture decisions in terms of their contribution to financial results.…”