Development of engineering knowledge models to achieve product innovation

To pursue understanding of governing principles, observations of phenomena and simulation of processes instead of relying purely on trial-and-error, is becoming more and more important in product development activities. This suggests that use of engineering knowledge models is an important part of future innovations. The purpose of this study is therefore to gain insight into the development and use of engineering knowledge models in the innovation process. Based on interviews with originators of such models within a manufacturing company this descriptive study emphasizes the following aspects: the ambivalent aspect of reuse, multi-use of existing models and increased interactivity provided by engineering knowledge models.Validerad; 2011; 20110328 (petert)ProViking THINK - Team för Heterogen Innovationskunskap, PIEp - Product Innovation Engineering Programm