Process model for systematic knowledge transfer in tool making

 

Although the use of systematic knowledge management would have to be used nowadays as a matter of course, the topic has not been addressed successfully in practice so far. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular are confronted with difficulties when introducing systematic knowledge management due to the supposedly high costs, coupled with extensive expenditure of time.

Due to its key position as a link between product development and series production, toolmaking is one of the most important industrial sectors in manufacturing. Toolmaking in the high-wage location of Germany is therefore under pressure to tap further potential in order to remain competitive in the dynamic market environment.

Further challenges in toolmaking are the increasing variety of products and shorter product life cycles. These challenges require quick decisions in business processes that take into account the experience gained. Toolmaking can meet these challenges by means of a process orientation that incorporates knowledge as a resource. The employees in tool construction have a great deal of experience knowledge in their areas of responsibility, but an exchange between departments along the process chain does not take place systematically. Due to low quantities and a high complexity of the tasks per employee, activities are repeated less frequently than in series production. Learning effects from activities are therefore slower and remain limited to individual employees, especially locally.

An additional hurdle to achieving learning effects lies in the increasing collaboration of companies to create a product. This is due to the stronger focus of individual companies on their core competencies, so that more services have to be obtained from collaboration partners. The focus of this research project is therefore on the area of knowledge transfer as a subarea of knowledge management. The necessary systematic knowledge transfer is therefore to be developed in this research project for the toolmaking industry.