Knowledge maintenance and sharing in the KM context: the case of P-Truck

This paper illustrates a Knowledge Management framework developed in the context of the P–Truck Project, that aims to support the design and manufacturing of innovative products in a restricted and specific domain (i.e. the design and manufacturing of truck tires) through a Knowledge Based System approach. The domain is characterized by heterogenous knowledge, that can be difficulty captured with generic knowledge engineering methodologies and tools. Thus, a dedicated Knowledge Elicitation tool (KEPT) has been designed and implemented into the P–Truck system for this task. The main feature of KEPT is the possibility to manage the heterogeneous knowledge concerning the different phases of the production process in a centralized fashion, with benefits from the knowledge maintenance and sharing standpoints. Moreover, KEPT allows to support the different types of knowledge– based systems (i.e. rule–based and case–based) that within the P–Truck system support domain experts in handling tire design and production.