Multi-level contextual product development knowledge management in PLM

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) manages product data and processes and generally forms a huge product knowledge base, but how to leverage it for later product development is not well emphasised and discussed. Based on the practices of PLM implementation, a model of multi-level contextual knowledge management, called C-A-B, was proposed which contains three elements (knowledge context, knowledge aspects and knowledge base) and two engines (aspects mapping engine and knowledge acquisition engine). The context was constructed by leveraging the nature of WBS and workflow in PLM which provides a scenario for product knowledge capture and sharing. Knowledge retrieval was triggered by context and complete by passing contextual attributes to knowledge base through knowledge aspect. A system based on C-A-B model was developed for a vehicle OEM which demonstrates the add-on value to PLM adoption, making the knowledge access and sharing more efficient and productive in context.