Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

A Lean Knowledge Life Cycle Methodology in Product
Development
Maksim Maksimovic 1 , Ahmed Al-Ashaab 1 , Essam Shehab 1 and Robert
Sulowski 2
1
Manufacturing Department, SAS, Cranfield University, UK
2
Sitech, Polkowice, Poland
m.maksimovic@cranfield.ac.uk
a.al-ashaab@cranfield.ac.uk
e.shehab@cranfield.ac.uk
robert.sulowski.sitech@volkswagen.de
Abstract: Engineering companies face difficulties to utilise <strong>the</strong> full potential <strong>of</strong> existing knowledge assets in <strong>the</strong>
enterprise to support product development. The Lean Knowledge Life Cycle (LeanKLC) was developed as a
methodology to capture, re-use and create knowledge in <strong>the</strong> Lean Product and Process Development (LeanPPD)
environment. LeanPPD is a project funded by <strong>the</strong> EU-PF7. The project addresses <strong>the</strong> needs <strong>of</strong> European
manufacturing companies for a new model that goes beyond lean manufacturing, to ensure <strong>the</strong> transformation <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> enterprise into lean environment. The research methodology comprises three main elements: a) literature
review and industrial field study b) <strong>the</strong> LeanKLC development c) action research and d) case study validation. As
opposed to common Knowledge Life Cycle (KLC) methods, <strong>the</strong> LeanKLC does not require a rigid procedure <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> proposed stages. It provides different knowledge modelling tools and alternative implementation scenarios
specifically in product development. The stages <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> LeanKLC are <strong>the</strong> following: 1) Knowledge Identification, 2)
Previous Projects and Domain Knowledge Capturing 3) Knowledge Representation, 4) Knowledge Sharing, 5)
Knowledge Based Engineering, 6) Dynamic Knowledge Provision and 7) Dynamic Knowledge Capturing. A
dynamic dimension instils <strong>the</strong> practise <strong>of</strong> knowledge capture and provision as a daily routine. This aims to ensure
that knowledge is naturally created without <strong>the</strong> need <strong>of</strong> time consuming documentation. Initial industrial feedback
concludes <strong>the</strong> LeanKLC as a beneficial methodology. Future work will entail <strong>the</strong> conduct <strong>of</strong> industrial case studies
in collaboration with European manufacturing companies in order to enhance <strong>the</strong> present tools and tailor <strong>the</strong>m
based on specific industrial needs.
Keywords: Knowledge Life Cycle, Lean Product Development, LeanPPD
1. Introduction
Product development activities are becoming increasingly complex and require greater depth and
breadth <strong>of</strong> knowledge. This knowledge needs to be modelled in a way that ensures its correct use to
solve real industrial problems. The Lean Product and Process Development (LeanPPD) consortium
believes that product development activities must be formalised and structured in such a way that any
engineering decisions taken are based on proven knowledge and experience, which is referred to <strong>the</strong>
knowledge based environment (Al-Ashaab et al, 2011). Failure to apply proven knowledge and
experience will consequently result in product and process re-design, which would be seen as nonvalue
added activities i.e. waste <strong>of</strong> valuable resource.
The research community addressing lean product development (Morgan and Liker, 2006; Kennedy et
al, 2008; Sobek et al, 1999; Ward, 2007; Mascitelly, 2006; Oosterwal, 2010) is mainly based on <strong>the</strong>
Toyota product development system and commonly agrees that knowledge is a vital piece in <strong>the</strong>
puzzle to realise value creation. However, no systematic approach, method or framework is provided
on how to manage product development knowledge in a lean environment. Researches specifically
addressing Toyota’s knowledge management initiatives were described by Ichijo and Kohlbacher
(2007; 2008) and Dyer and Nobeoka (2000) at a high cooperative level. The literature in lean product
development with regards to <strong>the</strong> actual tools and techniques for knowledge capture, reuse and
creation, which an engineer could potentially use, is very limited. Therefore it is important to consider
and merge research initiative related to a Knowledge Life Cycle (KLC). The terminology <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> KLC
was mainly driven by Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) novel work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> knowledge creating process.
Borgh<strong>of</strong>f and Pareschi (1997) used <strong>the</strong> term <strong>of</strong> KLC to describe Nonaka and Takeuchi's (1995) four
modes <strong>of</strong> knowledge conversation, transferring tacit to explicit knowledge and vice versa. Firestone
and McElroy (2003) clearly use <strong>the</strong> term <strong>of</strong> a KLC in order to describe "a process that produces
knowledge with a conceptual framework that provides a cognitive map <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se processes". In
comparison to <strong>the</strong> KLC, <strong>the</strong> terminology <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Knowledge Management (KM) life cycle or KM
framework is also used to describe a process <strong>of</strong> "how organisations generate, maintain and deploy a
strategically correct stock <strong>of</strong> knowledge in order to create value" (Buckowitz and Willians, 1999). This
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