Knowledge Management An Engineering Perspective Dr Christian Hicks

Knowledge Management: An Engineering Perspective Dr. Christian Hicks Professor Paul Braiden University of Newcastle upon Tyne EDIN/1 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Capital Goods Companies • Products and processes usually complex • Customised to meet individual customer requirements • Engineered-to-order • Low volume, “lumpy”, erratic demand EDIN/2 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Classification of ETO Companies • Product / project focus • “Normal” / “Radical” design • Established / ad-hoc business processes EDIN/3 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

ETO Challenges • Focus on return on capital has led to change in ETO company structures. • ETO companies need to coexist in several alliances / joint ventures simultaneously. • Need to assure the processes by which knowledge is used within the firm and supply chain. • Knowledge needs to be gathered from transitory supply chain relationships • Need to comply with regulatory / deregularity environments. EDIN/4 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

ETO Processes • Physical / non-physical. • Multistage - tendering, contract execution, operations, maintenance. • All processes complex, interrelated and knowledge based. • Processes dynamic and often reconfigured. • General shift towards the outsourcing of physical activities. EDIN/5 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Product Development Process • 75 -80% of cost and delivery commitments result from early stages design decisions • There is high levels of uncertainty and sparse knowledge. • A holistic view of multistage processes is required including design, manufacture, construction, operation and maintenance • Tendering is often subject to severe time pressure and resource constraints. EDIN/6 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

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Product Development Processes • Normal design - product development, modification of existing products • Radical design - creation of new type of product, sparse knowledge base, engineers work from first principles, high levels of experimentation / modelling. EDIN/8 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Business Processes • With normal design there is sufficient knowledge to have established business processes • Radical design often requires business processes to be developed on an adhoc basis. • ETO companies lie on a continuum between these two extremes. EDIN/9 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Product Description • Changes in both form and detail • Starts with high ambiguity, sparse description and high uncertainty • Finishes with full product description and limited uncertainty • Different functions have different views – Functional decomposition – Physical decomposition – Top down vs bottom up – Geometric / materials / properties EDIN/10 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Systems Analysis and Modelling Different types of model based upon graphical notations • Functional models - decompose systems using a hierarchical, top-down approach. Helpful for understanding processes and interrelationships. • Information models - “flat structure” define data structures for database systems in terms of entities and relationships. • Dynamic models - describe dynamic characteristics • Other models - decision trees etc. EDIN/11 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Modelling Engineering Systems • Quality Function Deployment mapping customer requirements into engineering characteristics • Precedence relationships between processes and knowledge important • Matrix based approaches - Steward / Epping, identify – Serial processes – Parallel processes – Coupled processes EDIN/12 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Research • Objective is to identify new or improved knowledge management activities which will yield benefits. • Some companies have established processes, whereas others develop them as required on a project basis. • Knowledge workers operate within defined business processes and informal routines • Business processes and routines established through observation of processes and routines. • Formal methods used for mapping business processes (SSADM/IDEF) EDIN/13 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Routines • Identification of drivers and actors • People / system driven • Identification / dissemination of internal / external knowledge EDIN/14 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

Knowledge Classification • Knowledge processing - generation, transfer, utilisation, identification, capture / retrieval, format, codification, assurance • Domains - internal/ external, technical area, focus • The part of the organisation’s performance affected by the knowledge management activity • Formality - time and location dependency, MIS EDIN/15 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden

General Conclusions • ETO companies are complex and dynamic organisations • Interactions between processes may be separated by a time lag. • Formal processes modelled. • Current research is focused upon identifying, classifying and documenting processes / routines • Object: to identify / improve KMA’s. • The performance of the associated business processes will be compared. • Research methodology proposed EDIN/16 © C. Hicks / P. M. Braiden