Knowledge Management

Product data and information is the lifeblood of the product development process. Without it, companies would not possess the technical capability to develop and produce products that their customers desire, and ultimately, provide shareholder value. Consequently, successful management of product data and product-related information is a critical element in achieving product development excellence.

From the perspective of a practitioner working in the product development arena, effective Knowledge Management answers the following questions:

• How can I have quick and easy access to product data?

• How can I find data for a specific part from among many available parts?

• How can I quickly find specific data from among numerous available data elements?

Accelerated Product Development has demonstrated success in developing a systems architecture that integrates elements of enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing resource planning (MRP), and product data management (PDM) systems. This approach of integrating data from multiple systems has proven to be highly successful in providing product development practitioners with easily accessible, comprehensive, and complete data that meets their needs.

A logical follow-on activity once data is captured through the implementation of reuse and design activities, Knowledge Management represents a key enabler in developing an efficient product development process and represents a streamlining element in the APD System.