Product related data and knowledge management in the intelligence enterprise

Within the Esprit Working Group 21108, Integration in Manufacturing and Beyond, our subgroup is concerned with the management of product data and knowledge in the extended enterprise and the learning organisation. Our focus is on concepts and approaches and methods for creation, capture, maintenance, management, and use of knowledge about products and manufacturing processes in the extended enterprise and the learning organisation. Eventually, our work will deliver an inventory of research directions and topics that has been validated by both industrial practitioners and R&D experts. This working paper reports on our current understanding of the problems of product data and knowledge management. It is a means for engaging in a "roundtable" discussion with industrial practitioners and R&D experts.