Knowledge Reuse

Overview > Knowledge Reuse

Product and process knowledge reuse is a critical tool to industry.

An important aspect of a product's integrity, quality, performance, cost of development is based heavily in product and process knowledge as demonstrated by the myriad of tools to measure the same: Six Sigma, SPC, etc.

At least two factors impede a company's ability to practice product and process reuse: employee attrition and the pure volume of information generated and available for review.

The indoctrination of new employees is becoming a daunting task with the volumes of intellectual information available and product complexity.

Engineers spend about 35 percent of their time looking for, and reviewing information. Many times, when information cannot be found or cannot be completely reconciled, much if the information is left unused.

With the levels to which products are pushed today, historical or knowledge based information is a valid starting point but may not address unforeseen or new events. KBE systems provide a valued starting point but cannot react to individual situations.

To ensure a product's integrity, industry uses "checkers" and TeraFlops of computer time daily, after the fact, to validate that the design cycle is progressing to plan. Unfortunately, the checking results in changes and re-doing work, work that may have served as a basis for additional efforts.

Generative Rules Checking, providing immediate tactile input to the user as a task is completed, is one technique to ensure product integrity while impacting product development cycle time.