Incorporating modular structure principles for global product development knowledge management in PLM system implementation

Abstract

Translating a market opportunity into a new product normally requires approximately 15% innovation, while the remaining 85% involves previously learnt processes, similar product information and knowledge that often are undocumented and undisciplined. Therefore, the need for improved knowledge sharing and the capturing of lessons learnt during product development is currently at its highest. Most engineering information is stored and retrieved from many locations in different file formats in the process of product development. One of the main issues is the traceability of product information, which takes a lot of time to find, sometimes no connection due to traditional hierarchical data storing methods and systems. This paper presents an integrated modular product structure methodology when implementing a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system, which gives traceability and accountability of product information and knowledge generated in the process of product development