DLMS: An Evaluation of KL-ONE in the Automobile Industry

Ford Motor Company's Direct Labor Management System (DLMS) utilizes knowledge representation scheme based on the KL-ONE family of languages to represent the world of automobile vehicle assembly knowledge. DLMS is an implemented system that has been utilized by Ford personnel since 1991 and it remains an integral part of Ford's worldwide manufacturing strategy. This paper will describe the rationale for the use of KL- ONE, provide an overview of how KL-ONE was implemented into DLMS, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a knowledge representation scheme such as KL- ONE in a production environment and present an evaluation of how knowledge representation and reasoning systems can be successfully utilized in industry.