Managing Engineering Knowledge in Special Machine Design Companies

This paper deals with Knowledge Management (KM) in the specific industrial context of special machine design. Our purpose is to study how relevant a KM approach in such an environment is. The theoretical background highlights the concept of crucial knowledge and the codification and personalisation strategies. From a field study, we show the existence of recurrences and experts in special machine engineering design, justifying a KM approach. We also put forward a condition to make this approach effective: the existence of a device enabling experts to work collaboratively.