Richard David Evans

A dynamic knowledge management framework for the high value manufacturing industry

Dynamic knowledge management (KM) is a combination of cultural and technological factors, including the cultural factors of people and their motivations, technological factors of content and infrastructure and, where these both come together, interface factors. In this paper a dynamic KM framework is described in the context of employees being motivated to create profit for their company through product development in high value manufacturing. It is reported how the framework was discussed during a meeting of the collaborating companys (BAE Systems) project stakeholders. Participants agreed the framework would have most benefit at the start of the product lifecycle before key decisions were made. The framework has been designed to support organisational learning and to reward employees that improve the position of the company in the market place.

A Framework for Improving the Sharing of Manufacturing Knowledge through Micro-Blogging

The purpose of this paper is to report on an industrial investigation, conducted within a leading power generation manufacturer, to better understand the organisational processes and challenges present in relation to the management and sharing of knowledge during product manufacturing. Findings reveal that the organisation is failing to fully benefit from web 2.0 technologies and particularly micro-blogging. Details of the investigation results are presented and a conceptual framework is proposed to demonstrate how organisations may enhance the sharing of explicit manufacturing knowledge using micro-blogging tools.

Using Web 2.0-based groupware to facilitate collaborative design in engineering education scheme projects

Employee collaboration is vital for manufacturing organisations wishing to be successful in an ever-changing global market place; it is commonly referred to as the joining of people and interests to meet a common goal via visual or oral interaction, information and knowledge sharing and the coordination of tasks; product development teams operating within the aerospace and defence industry rely extensively on this. To this end, the purpose of this paper is to present the results of a validation study carried out during an Engineering Education Scheme (EES) project initiated by a leading aerospace and defence manufacturing organisation, to confirm the benefits of using bespoke Web 2.0-based groupware to improve employee collaboration between dispersed teams. The results of a cross-sectional survey concluded that employees in the collaborating organisations would welcome greater usage of Web 2.0-based technologies. The study confirmed that groupware offers the potential to deliver a more effective collaborative environment with additional communication channels on offer to end users.

Development of a face-to-face meeting capture and indexing process

A face-to-face (F2F) meeting capture and indexing process could provide an internal feedback mechanism so that results can be monitored against change interventions decided at product lifecycle management (PLM) or performance development review (PDR) meetings. It could also assist people who do not currently have the knowledge or authority to act on what was discussed to share and reflect on the F2F meeting content after the event. In this paper a prototype is described in use with the continuous improvement Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle as a proof-of-concept in BAE Systems. More work should be completed to make the captioning of the F2F meeting content automatic or semi automatic. The presentation of the content in the groupware webpage may also be developed so that there is easier navigation. It would also be useful to have the variables that influence the profitability of the products to be displayed on the webpage so that changes can be tracked against business performance.

Exploring the benefits of using Enterprise 2.0 tools to facilitate collaboration during product development

Enterprise globalisation and technological advancements have created many opportunities and challenges for manufacturing organisations, including inter alia the need to develop flexible work processes during product development activities. The purpose of this paper is to report on an investigative study conducted within a leading Aerospace and Defence Industry (ADI) organisation to highlight the potential benefits offered by Enterprise 2.0 technologies to facilitate employee collaboration during PD activities. Although participants demonstrated a high degree of familiarity with current social media sites and Web 2.0 tools, the research suggests that little use is being made of them within the organisation, with employees still relying heavily on traditional means of communication for project collaboration. Furthermore, this paper discusses the design and development of a groupware prototype which has been validated through a real-world project to verify the benefits on offer to ADI companies when using Web 2.0 technologies.

Adoption of e-procurement systems in developing countries: A Nigerian public sector perspective

In the last 10 years, numerous studies have examined the adoption of e-procurement by both public and private organisations. However, experiential studies relating to the adoption of e-procurement systems by public sector organisations in developing countries appears neglected. This study, through empirical research, aims to examine the level of adoption of e-procurement in Nigeria with the view of gaining an understanding of the drivers, benefits, barriers, critical success factors, organisational performance post implementation and the impact of e-procurement utilization on curtailing corruption in public procurement. Results were obtained using a web-based survey, sent to 174 interviewees operating in the e-Procurement departments of Nigerian public sector organisations. In total, 74 responses were received, with results identifying that the majority of those surveyed had not received sufficient training in the use of e-procurement systems. We also identify that at an operational level, public sector organisations are yet to fully attain the full benefits of e-procurement.

A case-study: finding references to product development knowledge from analysis of face-to-face meetings

The study aim was to identify references to knowledge in conversation to inform personal expertise skill profiles. Objectives were to notate instances of issues or claims that arise during the discussion meetings; and to locate any supporting evidence of knowledge that has impacted on the profitability of a product. The volunteer participant was an employee from BAE Systems. A video from face-to-face (F2F) meetings uncovered 140 instances identified as either an issue or claim. Indexing the path to existing content or identifying gaps has mapped the infrastructure in use. Insight is also provided into commercial success in the Defence industry.

Yammer: Investigating its impact on employee knowledge sharing during Product Development

Global manufacturing continues to grow, creating the need for enhanced innovation during New Product Development (NPD); this in-turn requires increased utilization of employee-generated knowledge. Enterprise Social Networks (ESNs), such as Yammer.com, is one method identified which can allow organisations to connect employees across departments and physical boundaries. This paper summarises the results of a dual-moderated focus group conducted with 15 employees of a UK-based sports manufacturer, aimed at identifying the impact of Yammer on employee knowledge generation and sharing during NPD projects. Results indicate that employees see benefit in its use and would welcome greater embeddedness of ESNs in the NPD process. However, barriers are identified which may inhibit its successful deployment, including issues relating to security and intellectual property rights. Identified benefits of using Yammer include: an improved ability to find people with specific domain knowledge; increased awareness of communities of practice; and the matching of problems with solutions.

Investigation into current industrial practices relating to product lifecycle management in a multi-national manufacturing company

ABSTRACTProduct Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems have gained growing acceptance for managing all information relating to products throughout their full lifecycle, from idea conceptualisation through operations to servicing and disposal. This paper, through an in-depth exploratory study into a leading power generation manufacturing organization, presents current PLM issues experienced by manufacturing companies, exploring three separate topics: 1) PLM, 2) Knowledge Management and Lessons Learnt and 3) Product Servicing and Maintenance. Following a review of published literature, results of the investigation are presented, analysing the responses of 17 employees interviewed. With respect to Product Development, it was found that information traceability is time consuming and change management requests take too long to complete. Results relating to knowledge management indicate that the Company operates a ‘who you know’ culture, but do aim to capture lessons learned on the manufacturing shop floor and asse...

A Framework to Capture and Share Knowledge Using Storytelling and Video Sharing in Global Product Development

In global engineering enterprises, information and knowledge sharing are critical factors that can determine a project’s success. This statement is widely acknowledged in published literature. However, according to some academics, tacit knowledge is derived from a person’s lifetime of experience, practice, perception and learning, which makes it hard to capture and document in order to be shared. This project investigates if social media tools can be used to improve and enable tacit knowledge sharing within a global engineering enterprise. This paper first provides a brief background of the subject area, followed by an explanation of the industrial investigation, from which the proposed knowledge framework to improve tacit knowledge sharing is presented. This project’s main focus is on the improvement of collaboration and knowledge sharing amongst product development engineers in order to improve the whole product development cycle.