A case study of how knowledge based engineering tools support experience re-use

A manufacturing company’s unique intellectual capital is to a large extent built on experience from its own product development and manufacturing processes. Thus, methods and tools to utilize and benefit from this experience in an efficient way have an impact on a company’s ability to stay competitive and advance on the global market. Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) is an engineering methodology to capture engineering knowledge systematically into the design system. Hence, KBE tools are considered to support experience re-use and improve engineering activities. This paper presents the results from a study where the objective was to investigate the support for experience re-use in KBE applications in an aerospace company. A proposed framework is presented to analyze the capturing and use of experience in a company’s processes identifying gaps and propose improvements. The study revealed weaknesses in the process steps for experience feedback which can be used to improve KBE applications further