An Upper-level Functional Ontology to support Distributed Design

This paper presents a conceptual and computational framework for supporting the development of knowledge management systems based on ontology design and implementation. This framework is devoted to support enterprises involved in the design and manufacturing of complex mechanical products: in particular we focus our attention on a network of Italian Small/Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that collaborates in the production of supermotard bike named Terra Modena 198. Starting from some theoretical considerations about the role of ontologies in engineering design this paper reflects on difficulties arising when knowledge is distributed and misunderstanding and communication faults among partners could easily lead to errors in the final product.